India has submitted a strong objection over the distorted map used by Saudi Arabia in its newly released 20 Riyal banknote which had shown Jammu and Kashmir as a separate territory from India. It was released to commemorate Saudi Arabia’s presidency of organizing the G-20 Summit on 21st and 22nd November.
A statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs said, “India has conveyed its serious concerns to Saudi Arabia both in Delhi & in Riyadh over gross misrepresentation of India’s external territorial boundaries in new Saudi banknote. We’ve asked Saudi side to take urgent corrective steps. J&K and Ladakh are integral parts of India”.
Banknote has King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud one side and world map on other
Marking the occasion of Saudi Arabia’s hosting of #G20 summit, #SAMA issued a Twenty Saudi Riyal banknote#العشرون_ريالاً#G20SaudiArabia #G20RiyadhSummit#مؤسسة_النقد pic.twitter.com/ZFHQgGPbKl
— SAMA | مؤسسة النقد العربي السعودي (@SAMA_GOV) October 24, 2020
In the newly released banknote, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the 2020 G20 Summit logo has been featured on one side. On the other side, it highlights the G20 nations in a darker shade and the rest of the world in a lighter shade. It showed Gilgit-Baltistan and Jammu and Kashmir are not part of any country, neither India nor Pakistan, causing a huge outrage on social media.
The map also excludes territories under Pakistan, PoK and Gilgit-Baltistan, from the Pakistan map. Pakistan is yet to comment on the matter. It may be noted that Pakistan is not a member of the G-20 group.
Ministry of External Affairs registered objection
India considered it to be a serious matter and conveyed the displeasure to the Saudi Arabian embassy in New Delhi and the foreign ministry in Riyadh. As per the sources, Saudi Arabia has to make the required changes to the banknote else India may not participate in the G20 summit in November. Saudi Arabia has not reacted to India’s objection yet.