An improper Indian map with parts of Jammu & Kashmir missing, put up during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) on Friday, was drawn attention to by Indian officials accompanying the Prime Minister. QUT on Friday night apologised for displaying a distorted map of India during an event attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Indian map, which was displayed during the event had Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir — which India lays claim to and is part of the official Indian map — missing, prompting a strong protest by Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh. Asserting that the Government takes the issue of distortion of maps of India “seriously”, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said, “India’s Foreign Secretary raised the issue strongly and received an unqualified apology.”
He also said that the scientists and the staff at the QTU apparently did not realise the cartographic error. Within hours after his arrival following an overnight flight from Myanmar, Modi headed for the QUT for the first engagement of his five-day Australia visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 28 years after Rajiv Gandhi.
In Australia, Modi will attend the G20 Summit in Brisbane from November 15-16 and also hold talks with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott in Canberra.
Narendra Modi visited the QUT on Friday where he also undertook a tour of a QUT-India project to develop iron-rich bananas. There was palpable excitement among the student community, which also includes a large number of those of Indian origin.
Modi was asked to write a message on the agricultural robot, and he wrote in Gujarati “research is the mother of development”, according to a tweet by the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin. Curious students gathered around the robot to read what the Indian Prime Minister had written. A translation of the entire message was posted by the university.
It read: “Research is key to development. There is ongoing relationship between development journey of humankind and research. Increasing dominance of science and technology in the field of agriculture will surely prove to be beneficial to farmers and to the field of agriculture as a whole. It is an important endeavour for the welfare of mankind. Best wishes for your effort.”
The Agro Robot is a lightweight machine that performs the functions of a large tractor, including weeding. Modi was given a tour of The Cube, one of the world’s largest interactive learning and display spaces.
He inspected the two-storey-high digital centrepiece of the Science and Engineering Centre, at QUT’s Gardens Point campus, where he heard about ground-breaking research and met local high school students.
He also met the QUT research team spearheading the university’s multi-million dollar partnership with the Indian government to develop iron-rich bananas to help stamp out iron-deficiency anaemia in India, a major cause of maternal death during childbirth. Modi was also briefed on a project being jointly led by QUT’s Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities and the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, which aims to create cheaper fuels and chemicals from agricultural waste. The project is funded through the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund.
QUT Vice-Chancellor Peter Coaldrake and Arun Sharma, deputy vice-chancellor (Research and Commercialisation) welcomed Modi to QUT, along with Australian Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce MP. “It was a huge honour for QUT to welcome Prime Minister Modi to our world-class Science and Engineering Centre,” Coaldrake said. The prime minster also wished the children on Children’s Day, celebrated on the birth anniversary of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.