Ever keen to flirt with the apocalypse, Mark Zuckerberg has provoked a nuclear flame-war on Facebook by posting a map celebrating the "countries connected" by his controversial internet.org project, which features an outline of India which excludes the politically disputed territory of Kashmir.

Kashmir has been the site of political conflict since 1989. The conflict has been violent and its belligerents are the Indian state and an informal coalition of insurgents, some of whom are seeking accession to Pakistan while others promote Kashmiri independence.

The trouble started after Zuckerberg posted an infographic celebrating the Skynet-like reach of his internet.org project, which features an outline of India without the political hot-potato province of Kashmir.

One of the first comments on Zuck's post is from an Akhil Dev, saying "Great Job, Please correct the Indian MAP on this Picture, Kashmir is Missing." A later comment offered an updated version of the infographic for Zuckerberg to replace his with.

And then the nuclear flame war began, mostly in the replies to Akhil Dev's comment, all mediated through the beautiful prism of a shared second-language and social network slang.

Raheem Ibrahim offered "With lots of respect Dear Mr. Mark just correct the map otherwise world war 3 will begin from here on wards, .thereafter Planet will become without Pakistan ....#INDIAN."

Asim Mehmood stated "Kashmir is a part of Pakistan.....India had forcefully occupied Kashmir in 1948 against the will of people of Kashmir....India is killing kashmiris on daily basis who r fighting for freedom.....India has kept 8 lac army in Kashmir to depress the FREEDOM MOVEMENT OF KASHMIRIS..."

We will spare you the more vulgar comments.

The internet.org project is a partnership between Facebook and several mobile phone companies to provide "affordable access" to specific internet services. It has been criticised for its thorough non-compliance with net neutrality standards. It has also received plenty of criticism for refusing to allow HTTPS connections.

The Register has contacted Facebook for comment and will update this article when and if we receive a reply. ®