NSA Ajit Doval walks out of SCO meeting after Pakistan projects 'fictitious map'

India called the move by Pakistan a “blatant disregard to the advisory by the host” Russia.

In a virtual media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said, "At the meeting of the National Security Advisers (NSAs) of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), hosted by the Chair of the SCO (Russia), the Pakistani NSA deliberately projected a fictitious map that Pakistan has recently been propagating."

"This was in blatant disregard to the advisory by the host against it and in violation of the norms of the meeting.  After consultation with the host, the Indian side left the meeting in protest at that juncture," Srivastava informed.

"As was to be expected, Pakistan then went on to present a misleading view of this meeting," he added.

Pakistan’s ruling party PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf) later claimed that the SCO agreed to its position with respect to the new political map of the country overruling objections raised by Doval before he left the meeting in protest.

Earlier in August, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan had unveiled a new political map of his country which included the entire Jammu and Kashmir.

"This will be the new map of Pakistan from now on," he had said unveiling the map.

India had then called the move a 'political absurdity.'

New Delhi had stated that "These ridiculous assertions have neither legal validity nor international credibility."