ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office has said that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) ministerial meeting that concluded in Abu Dhabi on Saturday has reaffirmed its unwavering support for the Kashmiri people in their just cause.

In a statement the Foreign Office said: “In a resolution adopted by the 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), the OIC member states reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir remains the core dispute between Pakistan and India and its resolution is indispensable for the dream for peace in South Asia.”

The OIC resolution condemned in the strongest terms recent wave of Indian terrorism in India-held Kashmir and expressed deep concern over atrocities and human rights violations in the occupied valley.

The resolution also reminded the international community of its obligation to ensure implementation of UN Security Council resolutions on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Says OIC resolution has expressed concern over atrocities and human rights violations in India-held Kashmir

In the context of current volatile situation in the region, the OIC member states adopted a new resolution sponsored by Pakistan, which expressed grave concern over the Indian violation of Pakistani airspace, affirmed Pakistan’s right to self-defence; and urged India to refrain from the threat or use of force.

This OIC resolution on regional peace and security in South Asia also welcomed Prime Minister Imran Khan’s renewed offer of dialogue to India and the goodwill gesture of handing over the captured Indian pilot. The resolution called for restraint and de-escalation as well as the need to resolve outstanding issues through peaceful means.

The FO has said that the strong OIC support to the people of Kashmir and the centrality of this core issue to regional peace is recognition of the key role that Pakistan plays as a founding OIC member.

The OIC meeting also elected Pakistan as a member of its ‘Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission’ from the Asian region, and the FO said that the move was in acknowledgement of Pakistan’s constructive contribution to human rights discourse, norms and policies.

The OIC adopted two other resolutions sponsored by Pakistan on international disarmament and non-proliferation issues and reform of the UN Security Council.

Pakistan boycotted the plenary session of the 46th CFM at the Foreign Minister level, in protest against the invitation to Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj as a special guest.

The decision to boycott the ministerial-level meeting was made during the joint session of parliament and as per the decision of the joint resolution a letter was written to the OIC that ‘if the Indian foreign minister remains the guest of honour at the forthcoming OIC inaugural meeting, he (foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi) would not be in a position to participate in the conference’.

While the foreign minister did not attend the Council of Foreign Ministers meeting, a lower-level official participated in the meeting to defend Pakistan’s resolutions, many of which are about Indian cruelty and aggression in Kashmir.

It was not only for the first time that India has been invited to participate in the OIC meeting, but also for the first time in 50 years of the OIC that the foreign minister of Pakistan has not attended the meeting.

The first objection by Pakistan over inclusion of India in OIC was made by former president Yahya Khan who had decided not to attend the meeting in protest over the proposal to grant membership status to India.

The meeting was held in Rabat, Morocco, in 1969 and the then Pakistan president decided to stay in his hotel room there, rather than sit in the conference hall with the Indian delegation led by senior minister Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed who later became president of India in 1974.

The reason presented by Pakistan for not allowing membership status and against the permission of the Indian cabinet member to attend the meeting was anti-Muslim communal riots in Ahmadabad, capital of Indian state of Gujrat.

The situation was defused after the Indian delegation was not only refused entry but denied access to the decisions of that OIC meeting and Pakistan’s stance was supported by Iran, Turkey and Jordan.

Published in Dawn, March 3rd, 2019