ISLAMABAD: President of Azad and Jammu Kashmir, Sardar Masood Khan, expressed satisfaction on Monday with a resolution on disputed Kashmir passed at the 47th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers’ conference last week with support from Saudi Arabia, saying the declaration had helped ‘internationalize’ the conflict.
Both India and Pakistan claim the Himalayan Kashmir valley in full. Each rules part of the region, with New Delhi long accusing its neighbour of fuelling an insurgency, which Pakistan denies and in turn accuses India of sponsoring militancy on its soil. Indian and Pakistani troops also regularly exchange fire across the mountainous border.
Last week, the OIC adopted a new resolution reaffirming its support for Kashmir during the group's Council of Foreign Ministers.
“If 57 countries speak up for Kashmir and call out India and condemn its action, it is an internationalized issue,” Khan told Arab News on Monday, saying OIC member states gave strong statements on the Kashmir conflict and also passed a resolution. “All these actions underline that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is an international issue.”
“Once again very strong support and solidarity was expressed by the OIC with the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Khan added. “There was a very clear and categorical demand for exercise of right of self-determination by the people of Jammu and Kashmir in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.”
Khan thanked Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan’s for supporting the Kashmiri cause and added that Prince Farhan had “very clearly” said there could be no peace and stability in South Asia without the resolution of the Kashmir conflict: “So very significant statement coming from Saudi Arabia.”
“A Resolution adopted unanimously by the 47th Session of the OIC in Niamey, the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) reaffirmed its strong support for the Kashmir cause,” the foreign office said in a statement following the release of the declaration. “The OIC categorically rejected illegal and unilateral actions taken by India since 5 August 2019,” the statement said, referring to the Indian government’s decision to strip the disputed region of its autonomy last year.
