An emergency meeting of OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir was held on 6th August 2019 in the wake of illegal actions by India to alter the internationally recognized disputed status of Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOK). The meeting was chaired by Amb. Samir Bakr Diab, Assistant Secretary General, who represented the OIC Secretary General, and attended by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Ambassador Sami Bakr Diab read the statement of the OIC Secretary General expressing “deep concern over the recent developments in IoK including the escalation of violence by the Indian forces and the measures taken by the Indian authorities that might affect the status of the territory and the rights of the Kashmiri people”. He reaffirmed the OIC’s full support to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in their just struggle to achieve their legitimate rights, in particular the right to self-determination. Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who led the Pakistan delegation, apprised the participants of the mala-fide Indian attempt to strengthen its illegitimate occupation of IOK. He stated that Indian steps which interfere with the demography of IOK and the disputed status of Jammu & Kashmir are a grave, destabilizing threat to the already volatile situation in South Asia and would have serious implications. The Foreign Minister reiterated that no unilateral actions by India could change the disputed nature of Jammu & Kashmir. He reiterated that Pakistan will continue to extend political, diplomatic and moral support to the indigenous struggle of the Kashmiri people for realization of their inalienable right to self-determination.Other members of the Contact Group also made statements condemning the illegal Indian actions and expressing deep concern over the developments while reiterating their continued support for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. They called for a peaceful resolution of the dispute in accordance with the United Nations Security Council resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people. The Contact Group condemned India’s recent illegal and unilateral steps, aimed at undermining the demographics and the disputed nature of the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir in contravention of the relevant UN resolutions, which seriously imperil regional peace and security. The Contact Group reaffirmed that Jammu and Kashmir is an internationally recognized dispute, pending on the agenda of the United Nations Security Council. The Contact Group expressed their support to the efforts of the Pakistan government for the resolution of the dispute and declared solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting emphasized that durable peace in South Asia rests with a just and final settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in line with the UN Security Council Resolutions. The Contact Group urged India again to allow access to the OIC Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) and other international rights bodies on the Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir in order to independently verify the gross and blatant human rights violations. IPHRC representatives briefed the participants about the worsening human rights situation in IoK and called upon the Government of India to implement the recommendations of the Reports of the OIC IPHRC and OHCHR on the Human Rights situation in IoK which calls for establishing a Commission for inquiry under the UN auspicious to investigate the human rights violations in Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The Contact Group on Jammu & Kashmir was formed in 1994 to coordinate policy of the OIC on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. Azerbaijan, Niger, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are its members. The deliberations of the Contact Group reflect the support of the OIC on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
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