OIC group on J&K says lasting peace in S Asia cannot be achieved without settlement of Kashmir issue

Islamabad, Mar 23 (PTI) The OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir said on Wednesday that lasting peace in South Asia cannot be achieved without a settlement of the Kashmir issue.

The group met on the sidelines of the 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Islamabad and was chaired by the OIC Secretary General Hissien Brahim Taha. India has previously hit out at the 57-member grouping of Muslim majority nations, saying bodies like OIC should not make irresponsible statements.

In its joint communiqué, the OIC Contact Group stressed that lasting peace in South Asia cannot be achieved without a just settlement of the core Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN resolutions. The group members reiterated their demand that India must reverse unilateral measures taken on or after 5 August 2019. Pakistan has been unsuccessfully trying to drum up international support against India for withdrawing Jammu and Kashmir’s special status on August 5, 2019 and bifurcating it into two Union territories.

India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda. In the Annex to the Joint Communique, the group asked OIC member states to raise the Kashmir issue in their bilateral engagements with India.

The Secretary General and General Secretariat were asked to raise the Kashmir issue and peace and security, human rights and humanitarian dimensions in engagements with various interlocutors, including international, regional and human rights organisations and bodies. The Jeddah-headquartered bloc, which is the second-largest intergovernmental body after the UN, has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue.

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