April 29,2020
New Delhi: The World Health Organisation (WHO), which is facing accusation of delaying declaring coronavirus a pandemic allegedly at Beijing’s behest, seems to have floundered on the depiction of China’s map on its website.
Parts of Ladakh (Aksai-Chin) in the China section of the WHO website has been shown as part of Chinese territory with a dotted line and colour code. Also, Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of India are depicted in different colours. A part of J&K Pakistan occupied Kashmir is marked with a dotted line, suggesting it as a “disputed territory”.
Many UN maps show parts of Kashmir as “disputed”, but this is probably the first time J&K and Ladakh are shown in different colours than the rest of India in the map of a UN body. ET has learnt that India has formally raised the matter with concerned UN authorities and awaiting response.
“The map of India depicted by WHO differs from the standard depiction even of the United Nations itself, by not showing parts of J&K which are under actual control of India as a part of our country,” Gautam Bambawale, India’s former envoy to China, Pakistan and Bhutan, told ET. “WHO’s depiction of J&K with a different colour wash from that of India is strange, incorrect and surprising.”
Pakistan had ceded part of PoK to China in the 1960s. China occupies around 37,000 sq km in Ladakh, bordering its Xinjiang province.
Earlier this month China included parts of Arunachal Pradesh within its international boundaries, according to an updated version issued by Sky Map, which is China’s authority on digital maps.
The map of China, until now, was based on the 1989 edition of the Sky Map of its national borders, though Beijing has since solved its border issues with Russia and Central Asian countries.
However, as per a DW (German media) report in Chinese language, some users noticed that Sky Map had now updated the geographic information at the “county” level. “The county boundaries of some counties clearly transcend the red colour-marked 1989 edition of the national border, especially in Tibet area bordering Bhutan and India,” the report said.
China has claimed its sovereignty over Tibet “counties bordering India and Bhutan from east to west”, it said. China calls Arunachal Pradesh as part of ‘South Tibet’.
Source : Economic Times
Leave a Reply