The Annual Coordination Meeting of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers was held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, in New York. Chaired by Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah, Foreign Minister of Kuwait, the meeting was attended by Foreign Ministers of member states and Secretary-General of the OIC. Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs, Mr. Sartaj Aziz, led Pakistan delegation to the meeting.
In his statement, the Adviser referred to the broad-range of challenges confronting the Islamic Ummah, and briefed the meeting about the gross violations of human rights in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.The Adviser regretted that the aggression of the Indian occupation forces took a new turn following the extrajudicial killing of the Kashmiri youth leader, Burhan Wani on 8th July 2016. As a result, over 100 innocent Kashmiris had lost their lives while thousands of Kashmiri men, women and children were injured, many seriously. The deliberate and indiscriminate use of gun pellets against Kashmiris had caused blindness to 150 youth.
The Adviser called on the international community to demand that the state-sponsored policies of suppression in Indian Occupied Kashmir are ceased, fundamental rights of the Kashmiris are respected and the UNSC resolutions providing Kashmiris their right to self-determination are implemented by India.
The Adviser also reaffirmed Pakistan unwavering support to the cause of Palestine, and restoration of peace and stability in the Middle East and Afghanistan.
The meeting underscored the need for greater cooperation between the OIC member states to combatterrorism and violent extremism, and to promote a culture of inter-religious and inter-cultural harmony and understanding.
The meeting inter-alia adopted the report of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir, callingupon the Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission, to monitor the human rights situation in Kashmir, and to submit a report to the next session of the Council of Ministers.
A delegation of the True Representatives of the Kashmiri People, also spoke on the occasion, and apprised the meeting of the latest situation in the occupied territory. They also thanked the OIC for its steadfast support to the legitimate cause of the Kashmiri people.
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