Saudi Arabia shows entire Jammu and Kashmir as a separate territory, India protests

NEW DELHI: India has lodged a protest with Saudi Arabia over the distortion of Indian boundaries in a global map printed behind the country’s new 20 Riyal currency note. The map shows undivided Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh excluded from India.

The new currency note was released by Saudi Arabia to commemorate the kingdom’s presidency of the Group of Twenty (G20) international forum. The new note features King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the 2020 G20 Summit logo on one side. A world map highlighting G20 nations in a darker shade on the other is shown on the rear side.

The map shows the whole of Jammu and Kashmir, including Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK) as a separate territory altogether. It does not even show PoK which includes Gilgit-Baltistan as part of Pakistani territory.
Some on social media have hailed this as a major Saudi diplomatic snub to Pakistan saying the kingdom, known to be a Pakistani ally in the past, does not accept Pakistani territorial claims over J&K.

However, the distortion was with the Indian map as well as it shows J&K to be a separate entity. According to a report by India Today, India has taken up the matter with the Saudi Arabian embassy in New Delhi and the foreign ministry in Riyadh through the Indian mission there.

Saudi Arabia’s special G20 Summit currency note, shows entire Jammu and Kashmir as a separate territory

India and Saudi Arabia’s ties have grown exponentially in recent times. In October 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid an official visit to Riyadh during which the Strategic Partnership Council Agreement was signed, identifying India as one of the kingdom’s strategic partner countries under ‘Vision 2030’ with a high-level partnership council at the leadership level.

The members of the G20 are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and the European Union.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES

Saudi Arabia’s special G20 Summit currency note, shows entire Jammu and Kashmir as a separate territory
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