US corrects its official India map; admits ‘goof-up’
05 Jan 2012
The US State Department on Wednesday posted a new map of India after objections from India's external affairs ministry to the earlier one, while the department's spokeswoman acknowledged of having made a "goof up" in this regard.
The issue arose as the earlier map showed the line of control (LoC) between India and Pakistan in Kashmir as an unlabelled dotted line, indicating disputed territory in cartographical terms.
"We made a goof and we fixed it and we're now back in compliance with our own cartographical policy," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily news conference in Washington.
"I'm thrilled and relieved to tell you that we have now put the revised maps up on our website," she added.
"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," she said.
"What you'll see on the maps is consistent with what the US geographic position has been consistently: that there is a dashed line representing the 1972 Line of Control, reflecting Kashmir's unresolved status," Nuland said.
"We neglected to actually label that dotted line in the last round of maps. It has now been labelled. The maps also add our 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 US takes no position on the dispute," she said.
A similar controversy had arisen in November, when the map on State Department website and travel advisory sites showed parts of Jammu and Kashmir as being Pakistan territory. This map was replaced after strong objections from India.
