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India complained to Saudi Arabia against the backdrop of a banknote showing Kashmir as an independent state, as part of a series of protests against maps of the disputed region targeting foreign media and Twitter.
The Foreign Ministry in New Delhi said it had expressed “grave concern” over a 20 rial note issued on the occasion of Saudi Arabia’s presidency of the G20 group of nations that includes India.
A dispute over Kashmir breaks out between India, Pakistan and China. But the world map printed on the bottom of the banknote shows Kashmir as an independent state, including the part that administers India.
On Thursday, the ministry said it had asked the Saudi authorities to take “corrective measures.” The Saudi authorities have yet to issue any public comment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to address a virtual Group of Twenty summit next November.
India firmly claims sovereignty over the state, which separated from Pakistan when the two countries separated in 1947.
Tens of thousands of people have died in a three-decade conflict on the Indian side.
Earlier this week, the Indian government warned Twitter about geo-tagging data showing that Ladakh, a part of New Delhi-administered Greater Kashmir, belonged to China.
Three years ago, India imposed new laws criminalizing the publication of incorrect maps, punishable by three years in prison.
The name “Jammu and Kashmir” is given to the part of Kashmir controlled by New Delhi, and includes groups that have been fighting since 1989 against what it considers to be the “Indian occupation” of their regions.
And the people of the region are demanding independence from India and joining Pakistan, since the two countries gained independence from Britain in 1947, and the division of Islamabad and New Delhi into the Muslim-majority region.
On August 5, 2019, the Indian government abolished article 370 of the constitution, which guarantees self-government in Jammu and Kashmir, which has the only Muslim majority in the country, thus dividing it into two regions administered by the federal government.
