The note was issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority on October 24.
New Delhi:
India has conveyed its “serious concern” to Saudi Arabia over a recently issued banknote with an “incorrect description of India’s external territorial limits,” the Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. The note appeared to exclude Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh from India.
“The note was issued by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority on October 24 to mark the occasion of the Saudi presidency of the G20,” the Foreign Ministry said in a briefing.
“We have conveyed our serious concern to Saudi Arabia, both through its ambassador in New Delhi and in Riyadh, for this gross misrepresentation of India’s external territorial borders on an official and legal Saudi Arabian banknote and we ask the party Saudi Arabia to take urgent corrective measures in this regard, “he said.
“I would like to further reiterate that all the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of India,” the ministry spokesman said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tried to woo Saudi Arabia in recent years, strengthening trade ties and with broader diplomatic proposals in an effort to pressure Pakistan, one of the Arab nation’s closest allies.
Last year, he broke government protocol to personally receive Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the New Delhi airport.
The gesture was hailed as “a new chapter in bilateral relations” by the then Foreign Ministry spokesman, who tweeted a photograph of the couple warmly shaking hands next to the steps of the prince’s plane.
During a visit later that year, Prime Minister Modi met with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and the crown prince and signed a series of energy agreements. India, the world’s third-largest oil consumer, is a key customer for Saudi Arabia.
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