An Indian diplomat has come to the spotlight after she raised her objections over an incorrect map of India during an event in Bangladesh. The diplomat was Pooja Kumari Jha, who is an Indian Foreign Service (ISF) officer of the 2022 batch, and she is posted as the Second Secretary at the Indian High Commission in the capital city of Dhaka.
During a seminar on foreign policy organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS), an incorrect map of India that showed Jammu and Kashmir as part of Pakistan was presented by former Bangladeshi diplomat Tariq A Karim. However, Jha immediately pointed out to this and raised her objection.
Her video has also gone viral on social media site X (previously Twitter). In the video, Jha said: โThe map of India depicted here is incorrect. Jammu & Kashmir is an integral and inalienable part of India, and I think the map presented here is not correct.โ
Following the objection, Karim explained that the map used was for representational purposes only and that it did not reflect any actual boundaries. To this, Jha once again repeated that the union territory (UT) of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India.ย
All about Pooja Kumari Jha
Pooja secured an All India Rank (AIR) 82 in the Union Public Service Commissionโs (UPSC) Civil Service Examination (CSE) in her very first attempt in 2022. She achieved the feat when she was just 25 years old. Currently, she has been posted as the Second Secretary at the Indian High Commission in Dhaka.ย
In an interview with The Better India in 2022, Jha had said that she is the second youngest among her siblings and her initial “years were filled with hardships, including financial difficulties and societal pressure.”
India’s stance on J-K
India has repeatedly maintained that the entire Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh remains an integral part of the country, even as Pakistan has tried to internationalise the issue, while also demanded that Islamabad must evacuate the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and also rejecting any third-party mediation.ย
Written by Vipashana Thakur. Vipashana Thakur is an intern with IndiaTV Digital.
ALSO READ – Sheikh Hasina vows to return to Bangladesh in December, says she may be arrested or killed