Pakistan’s new map an opportunity for India, Delhi just needs to play its cards right

Pakistan’s brash map-making, bereft as it is of any historical buttress, may just have given India an edge on its claims over Gilgit-Baltistan. Let the talks begin.
Pakistan’s issuance of a new map, which includes much of Kashmir and Junagadh, even as it observed Youm-e-Istehsal (Kashmir Siege Day) prompted a quick response from India’s ministry of external affairs, which called it “an exercise in political absurdity”.
But there is something that was almost missed in all the hullabaloo. For the first time, a Pakistani map includes Gilgit-Baltistan as part of ‘Kashmir’, something that India has been claiming since the beginning of the dispute. That’s peculiar, to say the least, and may just mean an opportunity for India if played right.
In a recent interview, veteran Pakistani diplomat Khurshid Kasuri pointed to ‘reckless statements’ by India on reclaiming Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as the reason for Chinese aggravation at Ladakh.
The possibility that Pakistan has Beijing’s blessings in producing the map is, therefore, entirely likely, especially given similar border claims by Nepal recently.
The trick, however, is to turn all these calculations on their head by using this map in negotiation-counters to solidify India’s claim to the whole of Kashmir, including Gilgit-Baltistan.