Google Maps marks Kashmir as 'disputed' for people outside India

Google Maps shows Kashmir as part of India provided you view it from within the borders of the country, but for people outside India, the outlines of the region are displayed in dotted lines acknowledging "dispute".

When Jammu and Kashmir is searched from India on Google Maps, it shows a solid grey outline bordering the territory and showing it as part of India. However, when you searched from outside India the lines appeared dotted.

"disputed boundaries are displayed as a dashed gray line. The places involved don't agree on a boundary," said Google Maps.

As specified by a report in the American daily Washington post, "the borders on Google's online maps display Kashmir as fully under Indian control. Elsewhere, users see the region's snaking outlines as a dotted line, acknowledging the dispute".

From Pakistan, Kashmir appears disputed while from India, it appeares as a part of India, the post report said, adding that "Google Maps changes disputed borders based on what country you search from".

Responding to the report, a company spokesperson stated, "Google has a consistent and global policy to depict disputed regions and features fairly, showing claims made by the disputed or claiming nations on its global domain.

"This does not endorse or affirm the position taken by any side. Products that have been localised to the local domain, such as maps.google.co.in, depicts that country's position as per the mandate of the local laws".

"We're committed to providing our users with the richest, most up-to-date and accurate maps possible. We do border updates based on data from our providers as new or more accurate data becomes available from authoritative sources or geopolitical conditions change. As we did for the state of Telangana in 2014," the Google official told PTI.

According to the report, "From Argentina to the United Kingdom to Iran, the world's borders look different depending on where you're viewing them from. That's because Google — and other online mapmakers — simply change them".

(With PTI inputs)

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