US removes post with map showing PoK, Aksai Chin as part of India

The Trump administration has deleted a social media post announcing the India-US trade deal that featured a map of India showing the entire region of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh, including Indian occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the Indian territory of Aksai Chin.

As of Wednesday, the post had been removed and no longer appeared on the U.S. Trade Representative’s official X account.

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) is under illegal control of Pakistan; Although Aksai Chin is an integral part of India, it is currently claimed by China.

The post was deleted after several days of speculation about whether the map indicated a change in Washington’s stance on the disputed territories or was simply a technical error.

The map, released last week as a trade deal was announced, attracted attention because it looked different from previous US representations, which typically depicted PoK with a distinct border and dotted lines to acknowledge sensitivities surrounding Pakistan’s claims.

The U.S. Trade Representative’s office appears to have paused the current discussion by deleting the post without making any official statement.

What was actually shown in the post, which has now been deleted by the USTR office?

On February 7, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office released the map while announcing an interim trade agreement with India; this map shows the entire northern Union Territory as part of India, including Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) and Aksai Chin (claimed by China), without any dotted lines, boundary lines or labels denoting it as undisputed territory.

This move attracted great attention on social media and showed that Washington was departing from its previous stance.’

Event timeline

February 7: USTR releases map as it celebrates interim trade agreement.

8-10 February: Social media is going viral with the “new stance of the USA”.

February 11: The post was deleted without an official statement.

India’s location

India has consistently maintained that the entire Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir along with Ladakh “is, is and always will be an integral and inalienable part of India”. The government also confirms that Aksai Chin is an integral part of Indian territory.

India’s territorial sovereignty over Kashmir has never been subject to any external verification. Still, Washington’s admission last week was seen by many observers as a departure from its previous stance.