‘Will be remembered for a long time’: PM Modi praises Lovlina Borgohain’s objection to distorted India map in Glasgow

Modi raised the incident during his recent interaction with India's Commonwealth Games medallists following their return from Scotland.

Modi asks Lovlina about restaurant incident

During the interaction, Modi asked Borgohain about the incident at the restaurant.

“Why were you quarrelling with the restaurant owners?” the Prime Minister asked.

Borgohain explained that she had visited the restaurant on the final day of the tournament and noticed an inaccurate map of India.

“I felt bad. So I requested them to change the map, followed by the restaurant's assurance. Now it has been changed as well,” she said.

Modi praised the boxer for noticing the distorted map and raising the issue despite being in the middle of celebrations.

He said her action reflected a “sense of patriotism” and suggested that the moment would be remembered by people for a long time.

What happened at the Glasgow restaurant?

The controversy began when Borgohain and other Indian athletes visited a Glasgow-based Indian restaurant after the Commonwealth Games.

Borgohain noticed that a map of India displayed at the menu card and logo did not include the country's northeastern region. The boxer, who hails from Assam, publicly expressed her disappointment and said the omission was hurtful, particularly for people from the Northeast.

She politely asked the restaurant to correct the representation rather than allowing the issue to go unnoticed.

Restaurant agrees to correct map

The restaurant subsequently acknowledged the issue and agreed to replace the map with a correct representation of India.

Boxing Federation of India president Ajay Singh also confirmed that the restaurant had agreed to make the correction following Borgohain's objection.

The restaurant later apologised, saying that there was no intention to offend and that it would update the branding.

Lovlina's Commonwealth Games campaign

The incident came during India's campaign at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, where Borgohain was among the country's prominent boxing stars.

Borgohain, an Olympic bronze medallist, was also one of India's flag-bearers at the Games' opening ceremony alongside fellow Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu.

Her objection to the map therefore drew additional attention, with the incident becoming a talking point alongside India's sporting performance in Glasgow.

Why the map issue sparked controversy

The omission of the Northeast from representations of India's map has long been a sensitive issue because the region is an integral part of the country and has often faced inadequate representation in mainstream narratives.

Borgohain's intervention brought the issue into focus during an international sporting event, with the boxer emphasising that an incomplete representation of India can hurt the sentiments of people from the Northeast.

The episode has since been framed by Modi as an example of patriotism — with the Prime Minister highlighting that Borgohain chose to speak up even while celebrating India's Commonwealth Games success.