India asks US to depict boundaries correctly

India on Monday took exception to "gross inaccuracies" in its map on the US state department website showing PoK as part of Pakistan and asked Washington to depict the boundaries of the country correctly.

India on Monday took exception to "gross inaccuracies" in its map on the US state department website showing PoK as part of Pakistan and asked Washington to depict the boundaries of the country correctly.

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"The government is aware of the gross inaccuracies, in the map of India, on the US state department website. The government has consistently rejected incorrect depiction of India's borders on maps used by the US government," the ministry of external affairs said.

"It has used every opportunity to convey to the US side its concern in this regard, and has asked that these maps be corrected. This position was reiterated by a senior MEA official to the US deputy chief of mission today, who assured us that the US Embassy would convey our concerns to the US state department," it said.

Under its A-Z list of countries, the website www.state. gov carries profiles and maps of all countries with which the US has diplomatic relations and in the case of India, the map differs from the official Indian map in that it ignores India's claim on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir by not even acknowledging its disputed status.

The ministry also said the government takes this opportunity to reaffirm 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 our country correctly."

Earlier, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said, "As far as the PoK issue is concerned, the maps will have to be corrected."

Mathai said the external affairs ministry was talking to a number of nations and organisations which have been wrongly showing Indian territories in some other countries.