NSA Ajit Doval Walks Out Of SCO Meeting In Protest After Pakistan Projected Indian Territories On Its Map

India issued its strong objection to the use of this illegal map by Pakistan. Russia as the chair, sources added, tried very hard to persuade Pakistan not to do so.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. (File Photo/ AFP)

New Delhi: National Security Advisor  Ajit Doval on Tuesday stormed out in protest from Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) virtual meeting where Islamabad projected a fictitious map showing Indian territories as part of Pakistan. At the meeting, chaired by Russia, Pakistan projected the new political mapclaiming all of Jammu and Kashmir and some parts of Gujarat as Pakistani territory. Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary of the National Security Council of Russian Federation has conveyed that he was personally very grateful to NSA for attending the SCO Summit, they said. According to sources, Russia does not support what Pakistan has done and hopes that Pakistan's provocative act will not affect India's participation in SCO and definitely not cast any shadow on Patrushev's warm personal relationship for NSA for whom he has the highest regard. Patrushev also said he hoped to see NSA at forthcoming events, they said. Hitting out at Pakistan, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said that at the meeting of the National Security Advisers (NSAs) of member states of the SCO hosted by Russia, the chair of the SCO, the Pakistani NSA deliberately projected a fictitious map that Pakistan has recently been propagating. Srivastava said Pakistan's action was in blatant disregard to the advisory by the host against it and in violation of the norms of the meeting. After consultation with the host, the Indian NSA left the meeting in protest at that juncture. "As was to be expected, Pakistan then went on to present a misleading view of this meeting," Srivastava said. Sources said Pakistan's use of a fictitious map as a backdrop for its representative depicting sovereign Indian territories as part of Pakistan is a blatant violation of the SCO Charter and against all its established norms of safeguarding the sovereignty and territorial integrity of SCO member states. (inputs from agencies)