India Asks Saudi To Take Corrective Steps Over Its Boundary Depiction In Its New Bank Note; Know The Controversy

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that Delhi has taken up the issue with Riyadh at diplomatic level, during the weekly briefing.

Image: Twitter/ @SAMA_GOV

New Delhi: India, on Thursday, lodged protest with Saudi Arabia over the map  of Kashmir in a new currency note of the country, terming is as a ‘gross misrepresentation’ and has asked Saudi Arabia to take corrective steps on the misrepresentation of its territorial boundaries. Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that Delhi has taken up the issue with Riyadh at diplomatic level, during the weekly briefing.

Why is India upset with Saudi Arabia’s depiction ?

Saudi Arabia released a world map on the new 20 Riyal banknote, in order to mark Saudi Arabia's presidency of the G20 grouping. It however, does not feature Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh as part of India. MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said India has asked Saudi Arabia to take "urgent corrective steps" in the matter, and emphasized that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of the country. "We have seen the banknote referred by you which gives an incorrect depiction of India's external territorial boundaries. The note was issued by Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority on October 24 to mark the occasion of Saudi presidency of the G20," the MEA spokesperson said. "We have conveyed our serious concern to Saudi Arabia, both through their Ambassador in New Delhi as well as in Riyadh, for this gross misrepresentation of India's external territorial boundaries on an official and legal banknote of Saudi Arabia and asked Saudi Arabia to take urgent corrective steps in this regard," he said. Saudi Also Removes Gilgit Baltistan from Pakistan Map: The map does not even depict Pakistan-occupied- Kashmir including Gilgit-Baltistan as part of Pakistani territory, reports said, even though Pakistan considers Saudi Arabia as a key ally. The exclusion of the PoK from the map of Pakistan is seen by many in Islamabad as a major snub to the country.