India has backed a United Nations General Assembly resolution promoting the use of equal-area world map projections but has made it clear that any depiction of its sovereign territory must conform to the country’s official map.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Sunday said the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakhmust be shown in accordance with India’s official map. It also warned that any inaccurate or misleading representation of Indian territory would be unacceptable.

The clarification came two days after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution aimed at promoting a more accurate representation of the relative sizes of the world’s continental landmasses. 

India supported the resolution, but not a specific map

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal clarified that India’s vote in favour of the resolution should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any particular world map or cartographic projection.

According to the ministry, India supported the underlying principle of equal-area cartographic representation, which seeks to preserve the relative size of continental landmasses more accurately than some traditional projections.

Jaiswal said the UN resolution neither adopts nor authenticates a particular world map, nor does it deal with political cartography, including international boundaries, disputed territories or place names. 

MEA draws a clear line on J&K and Ladakh

While backing the broader objective of improving geographic representation, India reiterated its position on territorial integrity.

The MEA said India’s sovereign territory, including Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, must be depicted according to the country’s official map. Any representation that is inaccurate or misleading would not be acceptable.

Jaiswal described India's position on sovereignty and territorial integrity as “clear, consistent and non-negotiable.”

This distinction is important because the UN resolution is primarily concerned with how landmasses are represented on maps rather than with changing political boundaries.

What is the Equal Earth map?

The UN resolution promotes the use of equal-area map projections, which aim to represent the relative sizes of countries and continents more accurately.

The widely used Mercator projection, developed by Gerardus Mercator in 1569, was designed primarily to help with navigation. However, when the curved surface of the Earth is transferred onto a flat map, areas farther from the Equator can appear considerably larger than they actually are.

This is why Greenland, for example, can appear comparable in size to Africa on a Mercator map despite Africa being vastly larger in reality.

The Equal Earth projection, introduced in 2018, attempts to address this size distortion while retaining a visually balanced representation of the world's continents. 

UN resolution passed with 164 votes

The resolution, titled “Correct the Map: Rebalancing Global Cartographic Representation and Promoting Equitable Representation of the World's Regions, Particularly Africa,” was sponsored by Togo and adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 4.

It received 164 votes in favour. Six countries abstained, while the United States was the only country to vote against the resolution. 

The initiative has been driven particularly by African countries, which have argued that conventional world maps can visually understate the continent’s enormous landmass.

Will the UN decision change India's borders?

No.

The resolution does not alter India's territory, international boundaries or land area. It also does not legally require governments, schools, publishers or technology companies to immediately abandon the Mercator projection.

Instead, the resolution encourages wider use of projections that preserve the relative area of continents more accurately. 

Mercator-type projections can also continue to have practical applications, particularly in navigation, because of their useful representation of directions.

Why India's clarification matters

India's response separates two issues that could otherwise be conflated: cartographic projection and political boundaries.

New Delhi has supported efforts to reduce distortions in the visual representation of the world's landmasses. At the same time, it has reiterated that such a change cannot be interpreted as acceptance of any depiction of India's territory that differs from its official map.

The MEA's clarification therefore establishes that India's vote was based on the principle of more accurate area representation and should not be viewed as altering its established position on sovereignty or territorial integrity.