FS Sohail thanks OIC for successful CFM session

Foreign secretary commends OIC ambassadors for their role in ensuring high-level participation in the moot

ISLAMABAD:

Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood on Friday met the Heads of OIC Missions in Islamabad to thank them on the successful conclusion of the 48th session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers held on 22-23 March 2022, and to review its outcomes.

The foreign secretary commended the OIC ambassadors for their role in ensuring high-level participation in the CFM. He said that this was particularly important since the 48th Session coincided with the 75th anniversary celebrations of Pakistan’s Independence. He added that this sentiment of abiding goodwill and amity towards the people of Pakistan was also reflected in the resolution adopted by the CFM, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence.

Welcoming the adoption of the resolution on “Peace and Security in South Asia”, the foreign secretary stressed that the text reflected the OIC’s deep interest in the maintenance of peace and security in South Asia.

He said that the OIC’s call for joint probe into the incident of March 9, 2022 involving a supersonic missile launched into the territory of Pakistan from India was a clear example of OIC stance in this regard.

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He underscored that the over 140 resolutions adopted by the CFM in the domains of peace and security, economic cooperation, rights of Muslim minorities and combating Islamophobia, outlined the OIC’s view on the whole gamut of issues confronting the Ummah. To this end, he noted that the recently adopted General Assembly resolution designating March 15 as International Day to Combat Islamophobia, served as a “perfect backdrop” to the OIC’s collective efforts to address this scourge.

The foreign secretary expressed the confidence that the appointment of the Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Islamophobia as decided during the 48th CFM, would help galvanise OIC’s efforts to promote dialogue and inter-faith harmony.

Foreign Secretary Sohail added that the principled position of the OIC on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, as reaffirmed in the statements of the Secretary General and member states, was a source of solace and strength for the Kashmiri people in their valiant struggle for self-determination.

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This was further reinforced by the Report of the Secretary General, the Joint Communiqué of the Contact Group, and the CFM resolution on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

Commending the Islamic Development Bank for the operationalisation of the Afghanistan Humanitarian Trust Fund, the foreign secretary stated that the signing of the Fund’s Charter in Islamabad, on 21 March 2022, marked a significant step in the OIC’s commitment to the people of Afghanistan.

He stressed that concrete pledges by member states and the international community to the Fund, would remain critical to long-term and sustainable support to the Afghan people.

The successful hosting of the 48th Session of the CFM reaffirms Pakistan’s proactive role within the OIC to strengthen bonds of solidarity between member states. This will also serve as a guiding principle of Pakistan’s Chairmanship of the CFM, which had the thematic focus of “Partnering for Unity, Justice and Development.”