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Pakistan makes ‘new’ map of Kashmir

WASHINGTON: Some of Pakistan’s embassies abroad are distributing a booklet which contains a map of the Jammu and Kashmir at variance with Pakistan’s long-held position on the dispute. The map shows the Northern Areas of the state, which have been officially considered an integral part of the former princely state, as a separate entity, identified simply as the “Northern Areas”. The Line of Control, formerly the Ceasefire Line, has been removed on the map. The entire state, both the Indian-held part and Azad Kashmir, has been shown as one, single, undivided entity, identified as ‘Jammu and Kashmir state’ with the words “disputed territory” appearing in very small letters under this appellation. The map is being handed out in Pakistan’s diplomatic missions in a few European countries as part of a booklet containing basic information about the country. The Northern Areas, Azad Kashmir’s highest court held in 1995, were an integral part of the Jammu and Kashmir state and their administrative control, it directed, should be handed over by Pakistan to the Azad Kashmir government. This has not happened. Azad Kashmir is not a “disputed” territory, according to Pakistan’s long-held position. The state position is that areas making up Azad Kashmir were liberated by the local people following an uprising against the Maharaja’s rule in 1947. Similarly, the Northern Areas’ territory ceded to China, according to a treaty between the two countries, will be subject to renegotiation in the event of a change in the status of the area at some future date. khalid hasan

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