New Delhi: Pakistan's attempt to garner international support against India's proposed legislation that penalises wrong depiction of Indian map, has been met with strong resistance with India.
Hours after Islamabad expressed 'serious concern' over India’s proposed the Geospatial Information Regulation Bill that penalises wrong depiction of India’s map, New Delhi dismissed the concerns and said that the proposed bill is an entirely internal legislative matter
Rejecting Pakistan’s ‘concerns’ over the proposed Geospatial Information Regulation Bill 2016, India today said that the proposed bill is an entirely internal legislative matter of India, since the whole state of Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India.
“Pakistan or any other party has no locus standi in the matter,” Vikas Swarup, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs said today, rejecting Pakistan’s stated concern over the matter.
Minister of state for home, Kiren Rijiju, too responded, stating that it's the duty of the government to ensure that India's map is depicted properly. “We don't take cognisance to Pakistan's objection to the draft bill. We will take suggestions and views of citizens, experts and various stakeholders before its finalisation,” he told PTI.
The draft legislation forbids wrong depiction, dissemination, publication and acquisition of India’s geospatial information, whether inside India or outside, and penalising them with a fine ranging from Rs.10 lakh to Rs.100 crore and imprisonment of up to seven years.
Pakistan today said it has expressed "serious concern" to the UN over a draft bill in the Indian Parliament over the map of Kashmir and called upon the world body to uphold its resolutions and urge India to stop such acts which are in "violation of international law".
“Government rejects Pakistan’s repeated and increasing attempts to impose on international community matters that India is open to address bilaterally with Pakistan” the MEA said today.
According to the draft Geospatial Information Regulation Bill 2016, 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.
Pakistan says that the official map of India “has been depicting the disputed territory of Jammu and Kashmir as part of India which is factually incorrect, legally untenable and in violation of UNSC resolutions”.
Through the passage of this Bill, the Indian government 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 Pakistan Foreign Office had said.
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