US agency backtracks on Indian map; removes X post showing PoK, Aksai Chin as part of India

A week after the India-US trade deal joint statement, the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has taken down a social media post that showed a map of India covering the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir, including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, as well as the Aksai Chin region as part of the Indian territory. Both regions remain disputed between India and its neighbours, Pakistan and China, with India maintaining that both are integral parts of its territory.

The USTR's office last week posted information about the India-US trade deal after New Delhi and Washington announced details of their bilateral interim agreement framework. Along with the details of the deal, the USTR posted a map of India on the social media platform X.

The map had shown the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir, including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), as territory of India. Similarly, the Aksai Chin region, claimed by China, was also shown as part of the Indian territory.

However, the specific post showing the map of India has now been deleted from the USTR's X handle.

On previous occasions, maps of India had shown a demarcated line to portray the PoK and Aksai Chin region. But the USTR map of India showed the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir, including these two areas, as an integral part of India.

New Delhi has consistently maintained that the entire Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. India also asserts that Aksai Chin is an integral part of its territory based on historical claims and past treaties.

Previously, in the "standard map" released by China, the country staked claims over Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin region, Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea.

White House tweaks India-US deal factsheet

In a separate move, the White House has updated the factsheet it released on the India-US trade deal a day after they reached a framework for an Interim Agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade (Interim Agreement).

In the updated factsheet, the White House has stepped back on several key assertions related to India's commitments on purchases, tariffs, and digital trade.

India and the US announced on Friday night that they have reached a framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement under which both sides will reduce import duties on a number of goods to boost two-way trade.

The original version of the factsheet said, “India committed to buy more American products and purchase over $500 billion of US energy, information and communication technology, agricultural, coal, and other products.”

The revised factsheet now says India “intends” to buy more American products and omits the term "agricultural" from the list of product categories.

It also removes the mention of “certain pulses” from the list of agricultural products for which India will eliminate tariffs.

On digital trade, the initial factsheet mentioned, "India will remove its digital services taxes" and “committed to negotiate a robust set of bilateral digital trade rules that address discriminatory or burdensome practices and other barriers to digital trade.”

The current version drops the claim that “India will remove its digital services taxes” and retains only that “India committed to negotiate a robust set of bilateral digital trade rules.”

(With agency inputs)