OIC Secretary General Iyad Ameen Madani, currently on a three-day visit to Pakistan, met AJK Government and Kashmiri leaders over a lunch hosted here in his honour.
President and Prime Minister of AJK expressed gratitude to the OIC Secretary-General for the Organisation's consistent support for the people of Kashmir over the past two decades in their struggle for self-determination. The Secretary-General of the OIC called for an early resolution of the Kashmir dispute through peaceful negotiations. He underlined the need for India's engagement with Pakistan through a dialogue process towards a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue.
The Secretary-General urged India to adopt the same approach on Kashmir as it had done for the Crimea. The Secretary-General reassured OIC's continued support to the people of Kashmir till the resolution of the issue in accordance with their wishes. In his meeting with the Kashmiri leaders, the Secretary-General took cognisance of their concerns over the atrocities being committed by the Indian Security Forces with impunity. The Kashmiri leaders stressed that any sham elections held by India could never be a replacement of the Kashmiris' right to self-determination. They called for drawing a distinction between movement for freedom from foreign occupation and secession. The Secretary-General was also given a detailed briefing by the AJK government on the status of numerous ongoing developmental projects that were being funded by the OIC and its affiliated bodies for the uplift of the people of AJK.-PR