IIOJK, Ladakh excluded from Indian map on new Saudi Arabia banknote

The new 20 Riyal banknote has been issued to commemorate KSA's presidency of G20 grouping

The global map printed on the new 20 Riyal banknote, released to mark Saudi Arabia’s presidency of the G20 grouping, does not feature Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and Ladakh as part of the Indian territory.

According to Arab News, the currency note was issued on October 24 and put into circulation the following day.

The banknote features a picture of King Salman bin Abdulaziz and the G20 Saudi summit logo on the front side and world map highlighting G20 countries in a darker shade on the other.

According to Hindustan Times, India lodged a protest to KSA over the newly released banknote, urging it to take ‘urgent corrective steps’.

“We have conveyed our serious concerns to Saudi Arabia both to the ambassador and Riyadh. We have taken up this gross misrepresentation of India’s exterior territorial boundaries on official and legal banknote of Saudi Arabia,” Hindustan Times quoted India’s Ministry Of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava.

“We have seen bank notes and these bank notes have incorrect depiction of India ‘s external territorial boundaries” Srivastava said.

“I would further like to reiterate here that union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of India,” the MEA spokesperson added.

The G20 summit is scheduled to take place from November 21 to 22 in Riyadh.