There is no such thing as a ‘UN map with borders’: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres

Days after India pointed out  “anomalies” in a world map that was used during the passing of the  “Correct the Map” resolution at the UN General Assembly, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, that the “UN has not published any map with borders”. In an exclusive interview with The Hindu, Mr. Guterres insisted that “it’s not for the UN to define” borders.

Earlier, The Hindu had reported that a map, created by the UN Geospatial and used during the consultation process for the ‘Correct the Map’ resolution, depicted Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin without the specified Indian and Chinese “claim lines” that previous UN maps had used.

“There is no such thing as a ‘UN map with borders’. The resolution that was approved in the General Assembly is not a map. It is a resolution that says — quite correctly, I think — that there are distortions in the landmasses that correspond [to real sizes]. These come from power relations of the past. And those distortions should be corrected,” Mr. Guterres said in the interview.

‘Contribution of NGO’

The map published by the UN Geospatial has been on the website of the UN even though the Ministry of External Affairs had said that the “anomalies” were being taken up with the United Nations. Referring to the issue, Mr. Guterres said the map on the website was “not an official UN map. It’s the contribution of an NGO”. He added: “The map is indicative, but there is no definition by the UN of what borders should be.”

India had voted in favour of the “Correct the Map” resolution passed by the UN General Assembly on September 3, which sought to replace the Mercator map, created by the Flemish mapmaker Gerardus Mercator in the 1500s, with maps that follow the “equal area” principle.

Claim lines omitted

The map in question, titled the ‘Map of the World’, was published on July 1 and subsequently taken up for discussion at the UNGA. It showed the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir as a dotted line, with a separate note at the bottom of the map explaining that the “dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan. The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been agreed upon by the parties.” However, there is no note explaining why the map did not include any similar explanation for omitting Indian and Chinese claim lines in Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal explained on September 8 that India’s vote for the resolution was in support of the underlying principle of “equal area representation”.

“The United Nations does not endorse any map. The United Nations doesn’t issue any map. There may be maps for reasons of consultation, etc,” Mr. Jaiswal said. Regarding the absence of Indian and Chinese claim lines in the map, he said, “We have taken note of the anomaly and we are taking it up with the United Nations.”