By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday said that a special meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) should be held on the ongoing situation in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) as the people of Pakistan have expectations with the organisation.
Addressing a press conference along with the OIC Secretary General s Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir Yousef M. Al Dobeay in Islamabad, he said that many resolutions of the Islamic organisation regarding Kashmir are present. He said that OIC Secretary General s Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir Yousef M Al Dobeay has been apprised on the current situation in the occupied Kashmir.
The foreign minister said that the imposition of citizenship law in India is hampering the lives of minorities, especially Muslims, adding that the Muslims were massacred in New Delhi.
To a question, the Foreign Minister said Afghanistan’s leadership had to take the responsibility to create a “favourable environment” to take intra-Afghan talks forward after a historic truce deal was signed between the United States and Taliban.
“It is the responsibility of the Afghan leadership to create a favourable environment to take the talks forward,” Qureshi said. “Pakistan can create a favourable environment, it cannot take [Afghanistan’s] decisions.”
Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassador Yousef M. Al Dobeay Tuesday reaffirmed the organization’s continuing support to Pakistan over the issue of Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K).
Addressing a presser along with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, he said the OIC and its secretary general had been making concerted efforts to get the issue resolved peacefully through dialogue. Lauding Pakistan as a strong and active supporter of OIC charter and agenda, he said the Kashmir issue had always been on the top agenda of the organization and supported by all the member states. He said the OIC had adopted a number of resolutions over the Kashmir issue and continuously raising the issue besides Palestine, as both the issues had been of immense significance for the whole Ummah.
Ambassador Yousef said the OIC had been strongly demanding the implementation of UN Security Resolutions and the resolutions passed by it, envisaging Kashmirs’ right to self determination. He also shared OIC’s serious concerns over Indian government’s unilateral steps of August 5 last year by revoking the special status of Kashmir through controversial legislation.
The OIC immediately responded to Pakistan’s request and expressed its solidarity with Pakistan over the issue, he maintained. He said all the member countries extended support over the Kashmir issue and stood in solidarity with Pakistan. The OIC was making full efforts to resolve it peacefully through dialogue. Pakistan attached huge importance to OIC and established a permanent office at the OIC headquarters, he added.
Apprising about the purpose of his visit, the special envoy said he would visit Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the areas near the Line of Control and would submit his report to the secretary general OIC. The envoy said since August 5, 2019, the OIC had remained actively seized of the deteriorating situation in Kashmir. The OIC and its human rights body, Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), had issued several statements condemning India’s actions.
