The Indian External Affairs Ministry on Tuesday accused Pakistan of presenting an allegedly fictitious map during a national security officials meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) earlier in the day
NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th September, 2020) The Indian External Affairs Ministry on Tuesday accused Pakistan of presenting an allegedly fictitious map during a national security officials meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) earlier in the day.
In August, Islamabad presented the country's new political map, which includes the disputed Indian region of Jammu and Kashmir as part of its territory.
"At the meeting of the National Security Advisers (NSAs) of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), hosted by the Chair of the SCO (Russia), the Pakistani NSA deliberately projected a fictitious map that Pakistan has recently been propagating. This 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 side left the meeting in protest at that juncture," spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said in a statement.
Last year, the Indian government announced its decision to strip Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and split it into two union territories, provoking a sharp reaction from the neighboring Pakistan, which claimed New Delhi was mistreating the region's Muslim population.
The SCO is an intergovernmental organization, currently comprising eight member states, namely China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. It also has four observer states such as Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran, and Mongolia. The organization's dialogue partners include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Turkey.
