On Islamabad's call, OIC to hold virtual meeting on Kashmir today

FM Qureshi to brief participants on situation in IOJ&K

An emergency virtual meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir is to be held today (Monday) at the ministerial level to to discuss the worsening situation in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K)

According to the Foreign Office (FO), the meeting, which has been called by Islamabad, will be chaired by OIC Secretary-General Dr Yousaf Al-Othaimeen, and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will brief participants on the situation.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) president and "true representatives of the Kashmiri people" will be included in the meeting, read the statement issued by the FO on Monday.

Besides, foreign ministers of other member countries of the Contact Group, i.e. Azerbaijan, Niger, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, and the representatives of the OIC-Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) are also expected to attend.

The FO added that the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir was formed in 1994 to voice the OIC’s point of view and coordinate joint Islamic action on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

This is the third meeting of the Contact Group since India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 in IOJ&K.

The OIC has steadfastly supported the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their legitimate struggle for the realization of their inalienable right to self-determination, claims the FO.

In addition to the meetings of the Contact Group, the OIC and its human rights body, IPHRC, have consistently pronounced themselves on the issue — condemning and rejecting India’s illegal and unilateral actions while reiterating support to the beleaguered people of IOJ&K, it adds.

The OIC Secretary General’s special envoy for Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassdor Yousef Al-Dobeay, visited Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir in March 2020 to reaffirm the OIC’s support and solidarity with the Kashmiri people, and tp acquire first-hand information on the situation along the Line of Control (LOC), according to the FO.