WASHINGTON, Jan 5: The United States has reinstated a State Department map of South Asia, which shows Tammu and Kashmir as a disputed territory.

An earlier map, which was removed on Wednesday, showed the territory as integrated with India and Pakistan and not as a disputed land.

In doing so, the US rejected an Indian demand that the State Department should redraw its map to show Kashmir as an integral part of India.

When a reporter pointed out that the new map shows the Line of Control as a dotted line, which would please the Indians who insisted that Kashmir is an integral part of India, the department's spokesperson Victoria Nuland replied: 'It is consistent with a longstanding US policy, which views Kashmir as a disputed territory.

'What is the gist that we should take from this on the Kashmir policy, we made a goof and we fixed it, and we're now back in compliance with our own cartographic policy, she added.

Ms Nuland, however, disagreed with the suggestion that by recognising Kashmir as a disputed territory, the US had opened the door to international mediation between India and Pakistan on this issue.-Correspondent