FO terms OIC conference ‘resounding success’

Pakistan on Thursday termed the Conference of Foreign Ministers from Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) a “resounding success” on all fronts, saying the 57-member Islamic body expressed unequivocal support for the resolution of the longstanding Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

“Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of independence, the conference is a landmark in Pakistan’s history and in the context of our leading role in the Islamic world. It was a great event for Pakistan’s diplomacy,” Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar said at a weekly news briefing.

He said the OIC conference was an acknowledgement of Pakistan’s leading role in the Muslim world. Highlighting the success of the conference, the spokesperson said 140 resolutions ranging from Kashmir to Palestine and from Islamophobia to other contemporary challenges facing the Islamic nations were adopted by the OIC-CFM.

He particularly referred to the strong resolution adopted by the OIC foreign ministers as well as separately by the OIC Contact Group on Kashmir.

The two-day conference concluded on Wednesday with the OIC member countries calling for immediate cessation of the hostilities in Ukraine. The OIC foreign ministers also adopted a resolution endorsing Pakistan’s demand for a joint probe into the March 9 missile India said it accidently fired into Pakistan.

Read PM Imran congratulates nation on hosting 'successful' OIC-CFM summit

India has yet to respond to Pakistan’s call for a joint probe as it neither responded to the specific questions raised by Islamabad about the circumstances surrounding the firing of a missile.

Pakistan claimed that the OIC had also agreed to go beyond mere resolutions on Kashmir. An action plan had been agreed upon for practical steps on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan has been seeking greater support from the OIC countries particularly after India revoked the special status of the disputed territory in August 2019. But some of the members, including Arab countries, were reluctant to explicitly condemn India because of their economic interests.

Nevertheless, the Saudi foreign minister, who also attended the OIC conference, did raise the issue of Kashmir and backed its solution in line with the international law and the UN resolutions.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also called for the resolution of the longstanding dispute in his speech, something that drew a strong reaction from India. New Delhi claimed that Beijing or any other country had no locus standi on Kashmir.

Pakistan, however, rejected the Indian contention and made it clear that Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute as acknowledged by the UN Security Council resolutions.