NEW DELHI (The Thursday Times) — India has rejected references to it in the resolutions of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s foreign ministers’ meeting in Baghdad, calling them “malicious, biased and false” and accusing Pakistan of orchestrating them.
In a statement reported by the state broadcaster DD News, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the OIC had “once again allowed itself to be misused by Pakistan for its bigoted agenda”. The OIC Council of Foreign Ministers met in the Iraqi capital on October 17 and 18.
‘No standing’
The ministry said the OIC had no standing to comment on matters it described as strictly internal to India. It rejected the resolutions’ allegations of Islamophobia as an attempt by Pakistan to divert attention from its own record on the persecution of minorities, sectarian violence, governance and political instability. It also questioned the bloc’s credibility and urged its member states to reform it.
On Kashmir, the statement said Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were “integral and inalienable” parts of India, and claimed the region had seen economic growth since the revocation of Article 370 in 2019. It accused Pakistan of violence against protesters in Azad Kashmir and said the only remaining issue was “Pakistan vacating from areas under its illegal and forcible occupation”.
The OIC has repeatedly backed Pakistan’s position on Kashmir and criticised India’s 2019 decision to end the region’s special status. Neither Pakistan’s Foreign Office nor the OIC had responded to the Indian statement at the time of publication.∎
