ISLAMABAD - The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary-General’s Special Representative on Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassador Abdullah Alam, is scheduled to arrive here today (Wednesday) on an important three-day visit that will focus on the situation along the Line of Control (LoC) and economic uplift of the Kashmiri people.
A key objective of the special representative’s visit is to explore ways and means through which the 57-nation pan Islamic body can contribute to the economic uplift of the Kashmiri people, particularly in the social sector and infrastructure projects, according to diplomatic sources.
Although the visit of the OIC SG’s special representative to Pakistan is an annual affair, this year it acquires special significance on account of the economic dimension that has been added at Islamabad’s insistence. At the OIC meeting in Cairo last year Pakistan had strongly advocated that besides political support, the Islamic body should also play a role in the economic uplift of the Kashmiri people. The OIC Secretary-General had then made a commitment to move forward on this front and decided to send his special representative with a mandate to also identify areas in which financial and technical support could be extended.
Ambassador Abdullah Alam, who is also the assistant secretary-general of the OIC, will be heading a seven-member delegation that includes representatives of the Islamic Development Bank, Islamic Solidarity Fund and ISESCO.
The OIC SG’s special representative and members of his delegation will meet the Hurriyat representatives in Pakistan later in the day. On Thursday morning the delegation headed by the OIC special representative will travel to Muzaffarabad for an overnight stay. It will be given a presentation by the AJK government on social sector development projects. Areas in which support is required will be highlighted.
The OIC representatives will also visit the LoC at Chakothi and a refugee camp near Muzaffarabad. During the visit the special representative and his team will also meet the UNMOGIP and will be briefed by Pakistan military officials on the situation along the LoC. On the cards is also a briefing by the AJK Trade and Development Authority on the status of cross LoC trade, the potential and the problems it faces. Later, the OIC special representative and his delegation will meet members of the AJK legislative Assembly and call on the AJK prime Minister who will host dinner for them
On return to the capital Friday, the OIC delegation will call on the prime minister and the president. At the foreign ministry a meeting with PM’s Advisor on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz and Special Assistant on Foreign Affairs Tariq Fatemi will be followed by lunch.
The OIC secretary-general designate Iyad Amin Abdullah Madani who is due to arrive here on Friday will also join the delegation and accompany the special representative to these meetings.
The Kashmir issue remains a priority item on the agenda of the Islamic body that is keen to see an early and just resolution of this longstanding dispute.