Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Pakistan for OIC conference

Islamabad, Mar 21 (PTI) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Monday arrived here to attend the 48th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers’ conference and held talks with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on issues of mutual interests.

Pakistan is hosting the 48th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the OIC here on March 22-23, the Foreign Office said in a statement. Foreign Minister Qureshi had invited Wang as a special guest to attend the two-day conference being held from March 22 to 23 here. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang visited the Foreign Office and held talks with Qureshi on various issues of mutual interests, officials said. He will also meet President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan, they said.

After attending the conference, Wang is expected to attend the Pakistan Day parade, and witness a special performance of China-made modern fighter jets J- 10C. Meanwhile, several foreign ministers and delegations from the OIC countries, observers and representatives of the international organisations arrived here to attend the session. Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha also arrived to attend the OIC moot. Talking to reporters, Taha said that the UN General Assembly recently adopted a resolution to observe March 15 as a day against Islamophobia which was a big development.

The foreign ministers of Egypt, Somalia, Niger, Gambia, Bangladesh, Uganda, Tunisia, Tajikistan, Guinea Bissau, Cote d’ Ivoire and Bosnia have reached  Islamabad. Delegations from Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Libya, Malaysia and Mozambique have also arrived. President of the Islamic Development Bank Mohammad Sulaiman Al Jasser also arrived to attend the 48th session of the OIC moot.

Prime Minister Imran will deliver the keynote address at the Inaugural Session on March 22. Foreign Minister Qureshi will chair the CFM.

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