Summit communiqué: OIC urges India to resolve Kashmir dispute

Reaffirms support for Palestinian state; backs Saudi-led military coalition

ISTANBUL: Leaders from more than 50 Muslim states have termed the resolution of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India as “indispensable” for bringing peace in South Asia as they called on India to implement all relevant UN resolutions on the dispute.

Heads of state and governments from the 57-member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), who had gathered in Istanbul for the summit, in their final communiqué reaffirmed their support for people of the disputed Himalayan state to their right of self-determination.

“Jammu and Kashmir is the core dispute between Pakistan and India and its resolution is indispensable for bringing peace in South Asia.”

They further called on India to implement all relevant UN resolutions on the dispute in accordance with the will of the people “expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite conducted under the auspices of the United Nations.”

Backing support for the wide-spread indigenous movement, it urged that the freedom struggle must not be equated with terrorism as they expressed concerns over the indiscriminate use of force and gross human rights violations by Indian security forces in the valley.

The OIC called upon India to allow its fact-finding mission and international human rights groups and humanitarian organisations to visit Indian Kashmir.

The conference also emphasised the centrality of the Palestinian cause and reaffirmed its principled support for the right of the Palestinian people for their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state with right to return.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16^th, 2016.