Centre 'Strongly' Raises With WHO Incorrect Map Showing J&K as Part of China, Pak; Health Body Clarifies

A day after a Trinamool Congress MP wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over wrongful depictions of India’s map on the website of the World Health Organization, the Externals Affairs ministry on Monday said the global health body has responded to the row by adding a disclaimer stating it is not an expression of WHO’s opinion on legal status of the region.

Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan in a written reply in Rajya Sabha said the issue has been raised “strongly” with the WHO. The minister said the WHO informed the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva. In the response, it said a disclaimer has been added stating: “The designations employed and the presentation of these materials do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WHO concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries and that dotted and dashed lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement.”

“Dotted and dashed lines on maps represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement,” it said.

Muraleedharan further added in the unstarred question in the parliament that the, “Government of India’s position on the right depiction of its boundaries has been unambiguously reiterated.”

The response comes after TMC MP Santanu Sen wrote to Prime Minister, stating the global map on the WHO’s Covid-19 portal showing information related to Pakistan and China with indications of two separate colours in the Jammu and Kashmir region. In a tweet he wrote the site shows “map of India with a separate colour for Jammu & Kashmir & inside that there is another small portion of a separate colour. If they are clicked, Covid datas of Pakistan & China are coming.”

In a letter to the PM, he also claimed that the portion of the State of Arunachal Pradesh is also demarcated separately. The TMC MP termed the incident a “serious issue” that was overlooked and urged the Centre to take immediate steps to correct the mistake. “People of India have the right to know why such a serious mistake has been overlooked on a website of such an organisation of international report like WHO,” he wrote.

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