The US Trade Representative’s Office has released a map of India that clearly shows Jammu and Kashmir as part of India.
New Delhi: Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India. As much as Pakistan debates this simple fact, the most hard-hitting acceptance has come from one of its most trusted allies and the biggest superpower, the United States.
The US Trade Representative’s Office has released a map of India that clearly demarcates the Indian territory. In the map, the northern Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is shown as part of India, including the portion illegally occupied by Pakistan, or the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
No fluff and real facts are what make Washington’s stance clear. The US has signalled that the American leadership agrees with India’s political map, backs the reality, and doesn’t support baseless territorial claims.
Embarrassment For Pakistan
This comes across as a massive embarrassment for Islamabad, a country that has lately tried to cosy up to US President Donald Trump. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and their Army chief Asim Munir, who now touts himself as a field marshal, have made multiple trips to Washington to lobby hard in the US corridors of power.
However, that appears to have failed to convince Washington to parrot the territorial lies propagated by Pakistan for decades.
Islamabad’s latest diplomatic efforts also hinted at a changing power equation in the neighbouring country, with Munir trying to proclaim himself as the de facto leader of Pakistan, sidelining the elected leadership.
US interests, however, remain high in Pakistan, with its focus on rare earth minerals and the sale of military hardware. But that’s no reason to accept an unreasonable claim, the US has clearly hinted.
The bigger message, perhaps, is that Pakistan could be a point of interest for the US, but there is no alternative to India, a global partner whose importance in geopolitics remains at the top. In short, the US just delivered a diplomatic blow that would ring through the most powerful government offices in Islamabad.
India-US Trade Deal
The India map was part of a graphic shared by the US Trade Representative’s Office, showing India’s reduction of tariffs on US exports.
US tree nuts, red sorghum, fresh and processed fruit, dried distillers’ grains, and American wine and spirits are among the imports, the graphic showed, on which India would either eliminate or reduce tariffs, as per the new joint framework.
Besides, Washington has also agreed to cut tariffs on goods imported from India to 18 per cent from 50 per cent and withdraw the additional 25 per cent duty.
