May 5, 2003	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 2, 1424

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NEW DELHI, May 4: The CIA’s new map of Kashmir describes the region east of the Line of Control as “Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir” while it designates the territories to its west as “Pakistan-controlled areas of Kashmir,” an Indian defence analyst noted on Sunday.

In the past, the United States has treated the whole Kashmir state as disputed, Air Commodore (retd) Jasjit Singh observed in a column in the Indian Express.

“There are other notable changes from the past which would no doubt make many people wonder at the political signals implicit in the map,” Mr Singh said.

He said the importance of this issue lies in the fact that the current map would have undergone rigorous inter-agency examination in the US system, and after approval at the highest levels, now depicts the official government position in the map which would be used by everyone in official and unofficial circles in the United States and its allies.

Mr Singh’s observations coincided on Sunday with fears expressed by senior leader of Kashmir’s APHC Syed Ali Shah Geelani that Pakistan may eventually accept the LoC as a border between the two sides of Kashmir.

In a written statement in Srinagar Mr Geelani welcomed the thaw between India and Pakistan, but also expressed his fears that Islamabad might backtrack from its stand on the Kashmir issue to improve its trade ties with New Delhi.

“If Kashmir can be shelved for smoothening relations with India, there is every possibility that the Line of Control may be accepted as permanent border for other reasons,” Mr Geelani said.

The current US government map no longer indicates the Siachen region as part of Azad Kashmir, and in fact marks it as “Indian Occupied since 1984”.