India says OIC has no jurisdiction on Kashmir, slams Pakistan efforts to raise issue

OIC has no locus standi on internal affairs of India or the recent incidents on LoC, says spokesperson.

With some weariness, the government of India rejected all claims made by Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar at the meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) about Kashmir.

Responding to questions about the statement made at the recently concluded OIC Contact Group meeting on Indian Kashmir held in Cairo, the official spokesperson said, "The OIC has no locus standi on matters concerning the internal affairs of India or the recent incidents on the LoC. We have already clarified that UMOGIP has no relevance in regard to the latter. The propagandist suggestions made in the foreign minister’s statement are neither new nor helpful".

In the past too, Pakistan’s efforts to raise the issue of Kashmir at the OIC have been rejected by India.

The OIC, in a joint statement at its 12th summit in Cairo, asked India to allow international human rights groups and humanitarian organisations to visit Jammu & Kashmir.

Khar had stressed the need to find a just and peaceful solution of the Kashmir dispute. The Secretary General OIC as well as foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia also extended their support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their statements.

The OIC had also implored the Indian government to carry out its own independent investigation into the discovery of mass graves in Indian Kashmir and to hold fair trials for those responsible for the crimes.