Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Sep 6: India on Sunday backed a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution promoting the use of equal-area world maps, while making it clear that the country’s sovereign territory, including the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, must be depicted according to India’s official map.
The government also stressed that any inaccurate or misleading depiction of India’s territory was “unacceptable”.
Responding to media queries on the UNGA resolution, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the General Assembly adopted the resolution titled **“Correct the Map: Rebalancing Global Cartographic Representation and Promoting Equitable Representation of the World’s Regions, Particularly Africa”** on September 4, 2026.
“Its purpose is to encourage the use of equal-area map projections that preserve the relative sizes of continental landmasses,” Jaiswal said.
He clarified that the resolution neither adopts nor authenticates any particular world map and does not address political cartography, including international boundaries, disputed territories or place names.
Jaiswal said India voted in favour of the resolution while explaining that its support was based on the underlying principle of promoting equal-area cartographic representation.
“We also highlighted that the resolution does not constitute endorsement of any specific map, projection or depiction of national boundaries,” he said.
“India’s sovereign territory, including the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, must be depicted in accordance with India’s official map. Any inaccurate or misleading depiction is unacceptable. Our position on India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is clear, consistent and non-negotiable,” Jaiswal said.
### UN backs equal-area maps
The UN General Assembly on Friday endorsed the resolution promoting map projections that more accurately reflect the true size of continents.
The move follows an African-led campaign against the **16th-century Mercator projection**, which remains the most widely used world map projection.
The resolution was adopted with **164 votes in favour**. Estonia, Georgia, Lithuania, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine abstained, while the **United States was the only country to vote against** the resolution.
The resolution does not ban the Mercator projection or mandate a replacement.
Instead, it encourages governments, schools, international organisations and technology companies to use the **Equal Earth projection** and other equal-area maps when relative landmass size is important.
It also encourages teaching the limitations of flat maps in representing the Earth, which is a spherical planet.