India has voted in favour of a United Nations resolution on map reform that seeks to represent the relative size of continents more accurately, particularly highlighting Africa and other regions of the Global South. The UN General Assembly adopted the non-binding "Correct the Map" resolution on September 4.
The United States was the only country to vote against it, while 164 countries voted in favour. Meanwhile, Serbia, Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova and Ukraine abstained.
India also delivered an explanation of vote, stressing the underlying principle of promoting equal-area cartographic representation.
During a media interaction on September 6, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India had also clarified that the resolution should not be interpreted as an endorsement of any specific map or projection.
“We also highlighted that the resolution does not constitute endorsement of any specific map, projection or depiction of national boundaries. India's sovereign territory, including the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, must be depicted in accordance with India's official map,” Jaiswal said.
“Any inaccurate or misleading depiction is unacceptable. Our position on India's sovereignty and territorial integrity is clear, consistent and non-negotiable,” he added.
ALSO READ: UN Backs New World Map to Show Africa's True Size, Challenges Mercator Projection
What Is The UN Map Resolution?
The resolution seeks to encourage the use of equal-area map projections, which preserve the relative sizes of continental landmasses more accurately. It does not adopt or authenticate any particular world map.
The resolution also does not address political cartography, including international boundaries, disputed territories or place names. As a result, it does not replace existing maps or require countries to adopt a particular projection.
The move is largely aimed at addressing long-standing distortions in how the size of different parts of the world is represented on commonly used maps.
The debate centres on the Mercator projection, a mapping system developed in the 16th century and widely used for navigation, classrooms and other applications. While the Mercator projection is useful for preserving directions and angles, it increasingly distorts the size of landmasses as they move farther from the Equator. Countries and regions closer to the northern and southern extremes can therefore appear significantly larger than they are in reality.
Africa is one of the most prominent examples. On a conventional Mercator map, Greenland can appear comparable in size to Africa, despite Africa being roughly 14 times larger.
The proposed shift towards equal-area projections aims to provide a more accurate visual representation of Africa as well as other landmasses whose size can be distorted by conventional map projections.
The resolution is non-binding and does not immediately replace the maps currently used around the world. The UN vote therefore marks a symbolic step towards addressing geographical distortions in conventional world maps, while leaving individual countries free to use appropriate cartographic projections and maintaining existing positions on political boundaries and territorial sovereignty.
ALSO READ: US-Iran Strikes: CENTCOM Releases Video Of Iranian Oil Tanker Sinking In Gulf Of Oman — Watch
Essential Business Intelligence, Sharp Market Insights, Practical Personal Finance Advice, Daily Fuel, Gold and Silver Prices and Latest Stories — On NDTV Profit.