Early Times Report
Jammu, May 10: If one goes by the US's Pentagon representation, then there is no dispute between India and Pakistan over that part of the State of Jammu & Kashmir that has been under the illegal control of Pakistan since 1947. The just-submitted Pentagon's 123-page report to the US Congress called "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2019", had at least 10 maps of the relevant region where Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (read PoJK) is shown to be inside Pakistan. The delineation of the India-Pakistan boundary lies in the realm of political controversy because of the Kashmir issue.
While India's claim over PoJK is ignored, the occupied region is shown to be part of Pakistan as a result of which the disputed status of the region is overlooked. But at the same time, the disputed status of the Aksai Chin region which India claims, but is under the control of China, is acknowledged.
In one particular illustration on page 78 of the report, the 1972 LoC is mentioned on the map but the area India referred to as PoJK is shown to be totally under Pakistan. Pakistan calls a large part of the region as "Azad Kashmir". The LoC is the line that divides J&K.
The Pentagon is another name of the United States Department of Defence, which is mandated to submit a report to the US Congress every year. This year, the report has been prepared at a cost of Rs 1.25 crore. In the past too, India had complained to the US several times whenever official US Government maps failed to acknowledge Indian territorial claims. In most cases, the US made the "appropriate rectifications". But as for India's complaints, no action was taken. And this is a serious matter. Indian Foreign Office has to assert its authority and get the wrong undone. |
