Pak propaganda on Kashmir in OIC resolutions: Gratuitous and unwarranted
The Kashmir issue wasn’t on the official agenda for the meeting of the OIC’s council of foreign ministers (CFM) held in Niger during November 27-28.
n Sunday, India rejected references to the country and the Kashmir issue in resolutions adopted at the meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Member States, describing them as “factually incorrect, gratuitous and unwarranted”.
The Kashmir issue was not on the official agenda for the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) meeting held in Niger from 27-28 November, as first stated by the Hindustan Times.
Pakistan introduced a resolution on the Kashmir issue to compensate for the decision of the OIC not to place the matter on the agenda and referred to issues such as the revocation of the special status of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir and alleged violations of human rights in the region.
“In the resolutions adopted by the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) at the 47th meeting of the CFM in Niamey, Republic of Niger, held on 27-28 November 2020, we strongly and categorically reject the factually incorrect, gratuitous and unwarranted references to India,” the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
“We have always maintained that the OIC has no position in matters strictly internal to India, including that of the Jammu and Kashmir union territory, which is an integral and inalienable part of India,” the statement said.
“It is regrettable that the OIC continues to make the use of anti-India propaganda by a country which has an abominable record of religious tolerance, radicalism and persecution of minorities. In reference to Pakistan, we strongly advise the OIC to refrain from making such references in the future,” the statement added.
At the end of the OIC meeting, the Niamey Declaration also included a reference to the Kashmir issue that, due to Pakistan’s insistence, people familiar with developments said was included. The declaration affirmed “the principled position of the OIC on the dispute between Jammu and Kashmir for a peaceful settlement in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.”
New Delhi was not shocked that the OIC documents contained customary references to Jammu and Kashmir, but it was clear that it was critical that the Kashmir issue was not addressed at the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers as a separate agenda item, despite the pressure mounted by Pakistan.
These developments come at a time when Pakistan’s relations with the two key players in the 56-member OIC, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), are strained.
Saudi Arabia requested the early repayment of a $3 billion loan given to the government of Imran Khan in 2018 after Islamabad’s attempts to forge a new grouping of Islamic nations along with Turkey and Malaysia irked it. Last week the UAE temporarily suspended the issuance of visas to Pakistani citizens over security concerns. During the OIC meeting in Niger, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi discussed this matter with his UAE counterpart, but received no positive response.
From some news agency
