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News

OIC stands by Pakistan on Kashmir issue, says Special Envoy

Qureshi hopes Al-Dobeay will convey Pakistanis expectations from Islamic organisation

March 3, 2020 08:44 PM


A top representative of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said on Tuesday that the resolution of Kashmir and Palestine issues remains at the top of OIC agenda.

OIC's Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir Ambassador Yousef Al-Dobeay also said the "OIC has always strongly supported the resolution of the Kashmir issue".

Addressing a press conference along with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in Islamabad, Dobeay said the organisation was very concerned regarding the situation in occupied Kashmir.

The special envoy is part of a six-member team that arrived in Pakistan on Monday for a five-day visit to get first-hand information on the destruction caused by ceasefire violations by Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) and the resultant sufferings of the people of the area.

He said the issue of Kashmir was “very close to our heart” and all members were on the same page regarding its resolution so that the Kashmiris could get the right of self-determination.

"Pakistan has shown the world that it is a peaceful state by using diplomatic tactics in the [recent escalatory] situations," he added.

"Tomorrow we will visit Jammu and Kashmir so that we can see the on-ground situation and then we will visit the Line of Control, the envoy said.

He added that a detailed report on Kashmir situation will be presented to the office of the secretary general on his return.

Speaking on the occasion, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that Pakistanis have certain expectations from the OIC and he expressed the hope that it will not disappoint them.

The minister also expressed the hope that Al Dobeay will play his role in making the organisation more aware of the situation in Kashmir.

He said that during his meeting with the OIC envoy, he made him "aware of the expectations the people of Pakistan have from the OIC and the importance they give to it."

Qureshi also said that Pakistan was trying its best to solve the Kashmir issue without violence, emphasizing that war was not in anyone’s favour.

"How can this issue affect the region, we saw a small glimpse of it in February last year," he added.

The OIC envoy earlier during the press talk shared that he was appointed as the special envoy last year in Ramazan and has since then seen Pakistan play an active and crucial role regarding Kashmir.

"If I see myself as a journalist then I will ask a question to myself that how important is the matter of occupied Kashmir to the OIC and this is a common question, and I will reply: “We keep this issue on the top of our agenda just like the Palestinian conflict."

"Pakistan is an active member of the OIC [and] after India revoked Kashmir’s special status on August 5 last year, Pakistan immediately requested to call a summit," he said.

"We did call a summit and there we showed solidarity with Pakistan," he noted.

"The OIC's Kashmir office is the most active as compared to others, it is playing an active role because of Pakistan," he said, adding that "the office calls a meeting twice a year, once in Jeddah and the other in New York".



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