Pakistan expresses �concern� to UN over Indian draft bill on border map

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, May 17, 2016: Pakistan said on Tuesday it has expressed “serious concern” to the United Nations over an Indian draft bill over the map of Kashmir and called upon the world body to uphold its resolutions and urge India to stop acts in “violation of international law”.

Wrong depiction of the map of India could land the violators in jail with a maximum term of seven years and impose a fine up to Rs 100 crore, according to the draft ‘Geospatial Information Regulation Bill 2016’.

“Pakistan has expressed serious concern to the United Nations Secretary General and the President of the UN Security Council, through letters by our permanent representative in New York, with regard to the Indian government’s efforts to introduce a controversial ‘Geospatial Information Regulation Bill’ in the Indian Parliament,” the Foreign Office (FO) said.

It further said that “in violation of UNSC resolutions, the official map of India has been depicting the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir as part of India which is factually incorrect and legally untenable”.

Through the passage of this bill, India would penalise the individuals and organisations who depict Jammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, the FO said.

“The letter calls upon the United Nations to uphold the UNSC resolutions and urge India to stop such acts which are in violation of international law,” the FO said.

Read: Bill on mapping may make app-based services like Ola, AirBnB costlier

“We have urged the international community and the United Nations to fulfill their commitment with the people of Jammu and Kashmir by holding an independent and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices,” it said.

India says the objective of the bill is to regulate geospatial data for several reasons including securing the country’s strategic installations from enemy eyes.

Many applications give a 360 degree view of important towns and cities around the world which, security agencies believe, could be used by terrorist groups to plan attacks without risking a recce mission.

Indian investigators who probed the 2008 Mumbai attack believe that Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists were shown their targets on apps such as Google Earth by their handlers prior to the strike. Such apps came under the scanner again after the terrorist attack on the Pathankot air base in January.