This was days after the OIC Secretary General, Yousef Al-Othaimeen had offered assistance in arranging a meeting between India and Pakistan…reports Asian Lite News
India has called on the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to not allow its platform to be subverted by “vested interests” such as Pakistan to interfere in India’s internal affairs or to carry out propaganda against the country, media reported.
This was days after the OIC Secretary General, Yousef Al-Othaimeen had offered assistance in arranging a meeting between India and Pakistan during a meeting with the Indian envoy to Saudi Arabia. It also proposed to send a delegation to Jammu and Kashmir.
While responding to a question based on the matter, India’s external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi noted that the meeting with the Indian envoy was held in response to an earlier request from the OIC secretary-general, the Hindustan Times reported.
“OIC should be watchful that their platform is not subverted by… vested interests for comments on internal affairs of India or for anti-India propaganda through biased and one-sided resolutions,” the HT quoted Bagchi as saying.
On Monday, the head of the Islamic bloc met the Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and discussed a number of issues concerning the situation of Muslims in India, along with the Jammu and Kashmir dispute with Pakistan.
The OIC chief also told the Indian Ambassador, Ausaf Sayeed, about the possibility of a meeting between Pakistan and India, “stating that the General Secretariat stands ready to assist if the two parties would so request”.
During the meeting, the Secretary General discussed “relevant UN and OIC resolutions opposing any unilateral actions on the issue”.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Office has reacted to the meeting stating that OIC’s Secretary General underscored its clear and principled position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute to the Indian envoy.
In a statement issued in response to media queries about the meeting, Pakistan Foreign office stated that the OIC CFM rejected “India’s unilateral actions since August 5, 2019”.
“The meeting between the OIC Secretary General and the Ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia on July 5 at the OIC’s General Secretariat in Jeddah took place in the context of the mandate afforded by Resolution 10/47-Pol of the 47th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers. The Secretary General underscored the OIC’s principled position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute during the meeting,” read a statement issued by the Pakistan Foreign Office.
“The OIC CFM in Niamey in November 2020 categorically rejected India’s unilateral actions since August 5, 2019. It also demanded that India rescind its illegal actions and respect the inalienable rights of the Kashmiri people to self-determination, as promised by numerous UNSC resolutions,” the statement added.
Highlighting the resolutions of the OIC, the statement maintained that “the OIC resolutions, inter alia, call on the Secretary General to dispatch a fact-finding mission to IIOJK to ascertain the situation on ground and report its findings to the next CFM. The CFM resolutions also call on the Secretary General to take up the matter with the Indian authorities”.
Pakistan maintains that India has ignored various OIC resolutions and “evaded its responsibility of protecting the fundamental rights of the Kashmiri people”.
However, it was the first time that the “principled position of the 57 OIC member states has been duly conveyed to India”.
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