US State Department fixes "goof-up" on India maps on its website

The United States Department of State put up a revised map of South and Central Asia on its website on Wednesday and acknowledged that it had "goofed up" in this matter earlier, something which had invited a strong reaction from India about "gross inaccuracies" in the way its borders were depicted.

 

"I’m thrilled and relieved to tell you that we have now put the revised maps up on our website. So please go and enjoy them," State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said at the daily briefing here on Wednesday.

 

"And what you will see when you look at these maps is that they reflect the fact that the United States takes no position on the dispute and urges all the parties to seek a peaceful resolution to resolving the claims. What you’ll see on the maps is consistent with what the U.S. geographic position has been consistently, that there is a dashed line representing the 1972 line of control, reflecting Kashmir’s unresolved status. We neglected to actually label that dotted line in the last round of maps. It has now been labeled," she said.

 

Nuland said the maps also had Washington's standard disclaimer with regard to Kashmir that says that names and boundary representations are not necessarily authoritative. "As I said, that reflects the fact that this is in dispute and the U.S. takes no position on the dispute," she said.

 

In response to another question, Nuland admitted that the Department had "made a goof and we fixed it, and we’re now back in compliance with our own cartographical policy."

 

"There is an asterisk on this set of maps, which is also consistent with our standard policy when we are trying to make clear that there is a dispute here. And it says that the names and boundary representations are not necessarily authoritative, meaning that they are in dispute and we are not taking a position," she explained.

 

India has consistently rejected incorrect depiction of India's borders on maps used by the US Government. It has used every opportunity to convey to the US side its concern in this regard, and has asked that these maps be corrected.

 

India maintains that the entire State of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and has consistently conveyed to the international community that maps of India should depict the boundaries of the country correctly,

 

NNN

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