OIC Kashmir communique

The main reason Muslim countries opted not to condemn India’s illegal move was because of their economic interests

It took a while, but the Muslim world slowly seems to be getting on the same page on the Kashmir issue. On Wednesday, members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's Contact Group on Kashmir expressed its complete solidarity with the Kashmiri people as they called on India to end its repressive seven-week lockdown in occupied Kashmir as well as to rescind its illegal annexation of the disputed state. The group also voiced concern over the “gross and systematic human rights violations” taking place in occupied Kashmir and urged India to allow human rights organisations and international media access into the locked down territory to ascertain and report on the situation there.

This is by far the strongest statement issued by the 57-member Islamic bloc since India revoked Article 370 of its constitution, which accorded special status to the occupied state. After the ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session in New York, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi noted that the unanimous adoption of the communique represented a “positive development” that has given a boost to Pakistan’s intense diplomatic campaign to push for a settlement of the decades-old Kashmir dispute. He was very true to point out that the OIC had never previously issued such an explicit statement on the longstanding Kashmir dispute.

The communique will be submitted for action by the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC, which will meet next week. Unfortunately, one of the main reasons many Muslim countries, particularly the oil-rich Arab states, opted not to condemn India’s illegal annexation of Kashmir much earlier was because of their economic interests in India. Behind the scenes, this remains the case. While the OIC’s communique is most certainly a diplomatic win for Pakistan, whether or not it translates into a win for Kashmiris depends on whether OIC members follow through in their individual capacity and use their economic leverage to push India to do the right thing.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown that he has no love for Indian Muslims, let alone Kashmiri ones, but perhaps his love for Arab Muslim money will force him to do the right thing.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2019.

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