The government has released a statement saying that during the recent signing of the memorandum of understandings (MoUs) between India and China in Ahmedabad, there was no map present, contrary to reports.
The statement says, "The agreements on establishment of sister province relations between Gujarat (India) and Guangdong (China) and establishment of sister city relations between Ahmedabad (India) and Guangzhou (China) have been signed on September 17. It is clarified that there is no map in the signed MoUs."
The statement further says, "A map was shown at the time of press release intending to show the geographical location of the Chinese city Guangzhou along with some factual details. It was not purported to give any geographical details of Indian territory. The map should not be treated as the approved political map of the country as the dotted areas are integral parts of India."
Earlier this week, the Gujarat government had come under strong criticism for allegedly projecting the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir as disputed regions in a map.
