Correction: This article was edited after publishing to change the terms “Pakistan-occupied Kashmir” to “Pakistan-administered Kashmir”
Claim: The United Arab Emirates endorsed India’s territorial division of the sub-continent, which considers Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir as Indian territory.
Fact: The UAE Deputy Prime Minister only shared a video which included an image of a map which shows Giglit-Baltistan and Kashmir as a part of India.
On 16 September 2023, Pro Pakistani shared an article headlined, “UAE Recognizes Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir as Part of India in a G20 Summit Video.” This article was based on an image which was included in a video posted by Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed on X (formerly Twitter), who is the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Fact or Fiction?
We found that Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed, the deputy prime minister of UAE had indeed shared a video from his official, verified X account. The 21-second clip shows US President Joe Biden thanking Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the Prime Minister of UAE, during the announcement of the India-Middle-East-Europe economic corridor. In the last two seconds of the video, an image of a map appears on screen, which shows the tentative route of this corridor and India’s yellow region is shown to include Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir regions.
According to this image, the region of Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir are both Indian territories. However, the postsharing this video does not claim to endorse or clarify the UAE’s stance on these territorial disputes. The exact text of the tweet is mentioned below:
في شرق الارض وغربها وين ما حل
حل السلام و جاوبته القيادات
الارض ظللها مدى حكمته ظل
لين انطوى الراي لزعيم الامارات
“شكراً شكراً شكراً.. لا أعتقد أننا سنكون هنا لولاك”
ما قاله الرئيس الأمريكي لسيدي صاحب السمو الشيخ محمد بن زايد، أثناء الاعلان عن مشروعات الممر الاقتصادي لربط الهند بالشرق الأوسط وأوروبا.
[Translation: In the east and west of the earth, wherever it may be. Peace came and the leaders responded. The earth is its shadow. The extent of His wisdom is a shadow. The opinion of the leader of the Emirates was lowered
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.. I don’t think we would be here if it weren’t for you.”
What the US President said to His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, while announcing the economic corridor projects to connect India with the Middle East and Europe.]
It is misleading to claim that the UAE has officially declared its stance on the territorial disputes over Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir between India and Pakistan. The deputy prime minister of the UAE re-shared a clip from the G20 conference with a map that was initially shared by the Indian government.
Virality
On Instagram, we found the claim posted here, here, and here. On Facebook, we found that the claim was shared here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The United Arab Emirates did not endorse India’s territorial division of the sub-continent, which considers the Pakistani regions of Gilgit-Baltistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir as Indian territory. The clip with the map in question was initially shared by the Indian government at the G20 Summit 2023.
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