Indian unilateralism endangering South Asia, Qureshi tells OIC

FM urges body to show solidarity with Kashmir through action

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has said that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) recognizes that the Indian move to strip Kashmir of its autonomy by revoking Article 370 was a violation of international law and tantamount to further jeopardising the already tenuous peace situation in South Asia.

The OIC convened at its headquarters in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, in an emergency session of its contact group on Jammu and Kashmir. FM Qureshi represented Pakistan in the session which was attended by the representatives of Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and other member states.

Pakistan urges OIC to take note of India's atrocities against Kashmiris

Qureshi, in a series of posts on micro-blogging website Twitter, said the OIC recognized that India’s aggression had placed more than 1.5 billion of South Asia at risk.

“I reiterated Pakistan’s stance on the peaceful resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute and that India’s hostility doesn’t give me much hope for a covenant for peace,” wrote Qureshi.

“Pakistan asks the OIC to show solidarity through action with the people of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) by recognising that this unilateral step by India was against the very status of IOK as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.”

Qureshi also pointed out that the India’s recent actions, including imposition of a curfew and communication blackout in the occupied part of the valley, had exposed its nefarious designs.

OIC voices concerns over use of cluster munitions by Indian forces

India also dispatched additional troops to the occupied region, with tens of thousands of soldiers banding up with the more than half million soldiers already deployed in the area considered the most militarised zone in the world.

He pointed out that up to 100,000 Kashmiris had been martyred by India in occupied Kashmir since 1989. It has left more than 22,000 women widowed, while 118,000 children have been orphaned, he added. He said that more than 12,000 Kashmir women had been raped.

The foreign minister also apprised the meeting of Islamabad’s reservations to Delhi’s actions in Kashmir, and informed them that the same had been conveyed to the UN Security Council and the international body’s secretary general.

Along with using repressive tactics in occupied Kashmir, Indian forces have also engaged in ‘unprovoked ceasefire violations’ along the Line of Control as well as using cluster munitions on unarmed civilians in Azad Kashmir.