OIC calls emergency meeting of Kashmir contact group on Pakistan's request

Published February 25, 2019
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi attends a meeting of the OIC Contact Group. — Twitter/File
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi attends a meeting of the OIC Contact Group. — Twitter/File

The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) on Sunday called an emergency meeting of its Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir on February 26 on Pakistan's request.

"On the request of Islamic Republic of Pakistan a meeting of the Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir ... will be held at the OIC General Secretariat" on Tuesday at 11am, said a notice marked "urgent" sent to members of the contact group by the OIC secretariat in Jeddah.

According to the notice, the meeting of the contact group will be held at the level of permanent representatives.

Sources told DawnNewsTV that the meeting will review the actions taken by the Indian government in the aftermath of the attack on security forces in Indian-occupied Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Read: Human rights violations in held Kashmir not internal Indian matter: OIC

The contact group meeting will precede the 46th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, scheduled for March 1-2 in Abu Dhabi.

In a rare move, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been invited to address the inaugural plenary of the OIC foreign ministers meeting. The foreign ministers of India and Pakistan could also come face to face in Abu Dhabi on March 1.

The OIC describes itself as “the collective voice of the Muslim world”, and its stated objective is “to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world”.

In the past, the group has criticised India’s human rights abuses in occupied Kashmir.

The invitation to India to the OIC meeting coincides with the recent visit to Pakistan and India by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who has advocated a peaceful resolution to the differences between the two countries, including their current standoff following the Pulwama attack.

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