Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua highlighted the grave human rights violations in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) during the 45th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), saying that the people of Kashmir remain under the illegal Indian occupation. The Foreign Secretary was leading the Pakistan's delegation to the 45th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), which concluded in Dhaka on Sunday.
According to Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal, one of the main highlights of the session was strong support demonstrated by the OIC member states to just cause of Kashmiri people through adoption of resolutions and endorsement of the report of recently held OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir.
Both the resolutions and report of Contact Group reaffirmed OIC's support for the realization of Kashmiri people's right to self-determination in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions, he said.
He told that the Contact Group report drew attention to rise in gross and systematic human rights violations in the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir, terming them as crimes against humanity.
The report also rejected attempts to equate the peaceful indigenous struggle for self-determination with terrorism, he said, adding the Memorandum presented by the True Representatives of the Kashmiri people to the OIC Secretary General was annexed to the report. The Foreign Secretary, in her statement at the Conference, as well as during a brainstorming session on humanitarian challenges and in her meetings, focused on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. She also thanked the OIC member states for their consistent support to the cause.
Janjua said the tragedies of Palestine and Kashmir endure even after seventy years; the homes, cities and towns of these oppressed people remain occupied, their livelihood destroyed, their rights usurped and their dignity trampled upon.
"Their legitimate and just struggles continue to be expediently equated with terrorism. The state and people of Jammu and Kashmir remain under the illegal Indian occupation. Their fundamental rights, including their right to self-determination, continue to be denied", the Foreign Secretary further said in her statement to the Session. As in the case of Palestine, she stated that the UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir are being ignored.
On Afghanistan, the Foreign Secretary said Pakistan is deeply concerned over continued strife and instability in Afghanistan, adding that peace and stability between Pakistan and Afghanistan are indivisible. "Our national vision for peaceful neighbourhood, connectivity and development are intrinsically linked to peace and stability in Afghanistan", she added.
Pakistan, therefore, is closely working with the Afghan government and the international community for reconciliation and dialogue that is owned and led by Afghanistan, Janjua said. She further said that Pakistan fully supports President Ashraf Ghani's initiative for dialogue with Taliban.
"We are also actively engaged with our brothers in Afghanistan on a host of other issues ranging from economic development, refugees and border management. We will continue to do our utmost to advance peace, stability and development in Afghanistan", she further said.
The Foreign Secretary also spoke at length about the tragic plight of the Rohingya Muslims and Palestinians and expressed Pakistan's full solidarity with them.
Just before the conclusion of the Conference, Dr Faisal said that the host country circulated text of Dhaka Declaration, which only reflected the views of the host country, and therefore, issued under its own responsibility, signifying that the text was neither discussed nor negotiated by participating States.
"The Declaration is without prejudice to the well established positions of OIC member states and the organization, as enshrined in the CFM and Summit documents", he added.
On the sidelines of the Conference, the Foreign Secretary met OIC Secretary General, Foreign Ministers of Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Minister of State of Uganda, her counterparts from Morocco, Malaysia, Tunis, Indonesia and the heads of delegation of several other OIC countries, the spokesperson added.