Pakistan said it contacted United States authorities after a now-deleted post by the Office of the US Trade Representative displayed a map showing the entire Jammu and Kashmir region — including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Aksai Chin — as part of India. The depiction aligned with India’s long-standing territorial claims but differed from earlier US maps that usually reflected the region as disputed.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry described the map as “illegal” and stated that it raised the issue with US officials. According to spokesperson Tahir Andrabi, Islamabad welcomed the removal of the image, saying the correction restored what it considers the “UN-sanctioned” depiction of Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory. Pakistan reiterated its position that the region’s final status should be resolved through a UN-administered plebiscite based on UN Security Council resolutions.
The controversy emerged because previous US government maps typically showed PoK separately, acknowledging the dispute between India and Pakistan. The map shared in the recent post departed from that approach by showing the entire region within India’s boundaries. The post was removed four days later, though neither the United States nor India has issued an official statement explaining the change.
The incident has once again highlighted the sensitivity surrounding cartographic representations of Jammu and Kashmir, an issue that remains politically and diplomatically contentious in the region.
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