Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi Thursday said the member countries of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) had unanimously agreed to hold the next summit level meeting in Pakistan. The decision was taken in a ministerial level meeting of the SAARC countries held here on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session, which was also attended by Foreign Minister Qureshi.
Talking to the newsmen, the foreign minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan would chair the next SAARC summit to be held on mutually convenient dates as proposed by Pakistan.
Qureshi said he proposed the SAARC member countries that the summit level meeting was essential if they really wanted to exploit the region's true potential in tourism, economy and other sectors, and discuss their disputes.
He said all the member states, except India, agreed to hold the next summit level meeting in Pakistan. As India was left isolated, it had no option but to endorse the proposal later, he added.
The foreign minister said the last SAARC summit was scheduled to be held in Islamabad in 2016, which could not be held due to Indian objections. However, India this time remained silent in that regard, he added.
He said the SAARC was a forum where the regional countries could discuss disputes and find out their solutions.
Qureshi said he deliberately arrived at the meeting late to avoid listening to the India foreign minister in protest against the human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
The foreign minister told the media that on Pakistan's request the OIC Contact Group on Kashmir held its meeting on Wednesday in New York, which was attended by the foreign ministers of all the member countries.
Unprecedentedly, he said, the Contact Group issued a joint communiqué in which the member states strongly endorsed the resolutions of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as well as the United Nations Security Council on Kashmir.
The Contact Group expressed its serious concerns over the human right violations and the Indian attempts to change the demography of the internationally disputed territory, he added.
Qureshi said the OIC member countries also feared that through such actions, India was trying to convert the Muslim majority state into a Muslim minority state.
They also condemned the arrests and torture being made on the Kashmiri youth, expressing concerns over disallowing the OIC, IPHRC and UN fact finding missions to the occupied territory.
He said India had been badly exposed by the international human rights organizations, international media and the civil society for its barbarism in Kashmir where eight million people were under siege by 900,000 troops for the last 52 days.
He said the governments, which were showing indifference so far, could not afford so for long as the parliamentarians from the United Kingdom as well as the United States had written to the UN Secretary General seeking intervention.
He said US President Donald Trump had reiterated his mediation offer on Kashmir which had turned their Howdy Modi extravaganza into "Rowdy Modi."
The foreign minister also expressed grief over the loss of life and property caused by the earthquake hitting Mirpur and surrounding areas of Azad Kashmir. He said the prime minister had spoken to the National Disaster Management Authority chairman and had directed him to extend all possible assistance to the victims.
He said the prime minister would also visit the affected areas on Sunday as he would land in Pakistan on Saturday evening on conclusion of his visit after his Friday's address at the UN General Assembly.
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