OIC CFM declaration on Kashmir: Qureshi terms resolution achievement of government

ISLAMABAD: A day after India 'categorically' rejected the unanimous resolution on Kashmir adopted by OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) describing it as "factually incorrect," Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Monday declared it an achievement of the current government to garner support of all the 57-member OIC countries on the Kashmir issue.

The significant development comes following the 47th session of OIC's CFM in Niamey held on 27-28 Nov culminating in a unanimously adopted strongly-worded 'principled' position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute while calling for a peaceful settlement in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.

The opposition's criticism on the government for 'severing' ties with Saudi Arabia in the wake of Foreign Minister Qureshi's remarks against Jeddah-based OIC, has lost steam with the recent stance taken by the 57-member OIC on Kashmir.

"Now, all the 57 countries through the platform of OIC have unanimously endorsed our position over the grave human rights violations in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Today, Indian ministry of external affairs is rejecting parts of the OIC resolution, which means the resolution has given them a bloody nose and it'll keep hurting them [India]. It's certainly a huge achievement," Foreign Minister Qureshi said in a statement.

Prior to the passage of the resolution a false propaganda was launched that Kashmir was not on the agenda of the OIC meeting, the Foreign Minister said, adding "If this was true then how did the CFM adopt the resolution on Kashmir unanimously?"

He further stated that the resolution was passed despite India's efforts to prevent Kashmir issue being raised at the CFM session of the OIC in Niamey, 'but it failed.'

Talking to Business Recorder, Kashmiri Hurriyat leaders and former diplomats welcomed the OIC's stance on Kashmir and expressed the hope that Muslim countries would decide to take practical steps to stop India from continued human rights violations in the occupied valley leading to a resolution of the dispute.

"Though we welcome the OIC's resolution on Kashmir and also commend the government of Pakistan's efforts for highlighting the Kashmir issue at the OIC forum, we also hope that important Muslim countries who have strong bilateral ties with India use their influence to stop the fascist Modi regime from continued human rights abuses and end the inhuman lockdown in the IOK," said Abdul Hameed Lone, a Kashmiri Hurriyat leader.

He said Kashmiri people are looking towards the OIC to play a 'practical' role in not only ending Indian oppression, but also to pave the way for resolution of the dispute through the UN Security Council resolutions.

Raja Khadim Hussain, a senior Kashmiri Hurriat leader, said that it was a good development that the OIC sent a strong message to India over its continued human rights violations.

"But this is not enough...the major Muslim countries within the OIC must also come out with a clear stance on Kashmir the way Turkey and Malaysia have adopted," he said, adding that Kashmiris hoped that the influential Muslim countries also use their influence for the just resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

Ex-ambassador Ali Sarwar Naqvi stated that this was not the first time the OIC raised the Kashmir issue in its important session of the CFM, and that since its creation in 1969, the Organization has been expressing its position on Kashmir off and on.

He further told this correspondent that the important OIC member states such as Saudi Arabia and UAE have supported a policy not to raise the Kashmir issue individually, but they often articulate their support within OIC.

The Indian External Affairs Ministry, through a statement on Sunday, rejected the OIC resolution as "factually incorrect".

"We strongly and categorically reject the factually incorrect, gratuitous and unwarranted references to India in resolutions adopted by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the 47th CFM Session in Niamey, Republic of Niger, held on 27-28 November 2020," the Indian External Affairs Ministry stated in a statement.

"It is regrettable that OIC continues to allow itself to be used by a certain country, which has an abominable record on religious tolerance, radicalism and persecution of minorities, to indulge in anti-India propaganda," it further stated.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020