Arunachal Congress objects to UN map depiction, says state’s status ‘non-negotiable’

The Congress in Arunachal Pradesh on September 10 objected to the depiction of the state in a recently released UN world map, asserting that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and should not be shown in a manner that creates ambiguity over its territorial status.

Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Bosiram Siram said any international map that creates uncertainty over the state's status was unacceptable and asserted that no foreign claim, map or nomenclature could alter India's sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh.

Siram said the Congress supports the Centre's objection to any inaccurate or misleading representation of India's territory.

He also clarified that India's support for a UN General Assembly resolution on equal-area cartographic representation was aimed at improving the accuracy of world map projections and should not be construed as acceptance of any particular boundary or territorial claim.

"An imaginary or virtual map, however influential, cannot create, transfer or extinguish sovereignty over a territory," Siram said.

He said Arunachal Pradesh has been administered as part of India since Independence through constitutional, administrative and democratic institutions, while its people have consistently participated in the country's democratic process.

The APCC urged the United Nations to review and correct its depiction of Arunachal Pradesh and ensure that future maps and geographical databases accurately reflect India's established territorial position.

Siram also called for India to go beyond diplomatic objections by strengthening its presence in frontier areas through improved roads, communication networks, logistics, security infrastructure and economic development.

The Congress leader described Arunachal Pradesh as a vital frontier of India and said stronger development and national presence in border areas would be an effective response to cartographic and territorial assertions.

"The position that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India is non-negotiable," Siram said, stressing that the state must remain secure, connected, developed and constitutionally protected.

The statement comes amid a clarification by the Ministry of External Affairs on India's position on the UN General Assembly resolution on equal-area world maps.

Government spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal recently said the resolution neither adopts nor authenticates any particular world map nor addresses political cartography, including international boundaries, disputed territories or place names.

Jaiswal said India voted in favour of the resolution and, in its explanation of vote, stressed that the resolution did not constitute an endorsement of any specific map, projection or depiction of national boundaries.

He reiterated that India's sovereign territory must be depicted in accordance with India's official map and that any inaccurate or misleading representation was unacceptable.