ISLAMABAD - Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday said that hopes and aspirations of Muslim states were linked with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Addressing the OIC’s Webinar on Golden Jubilee of OIC through video link, Qureshi said all OIC members desired for unity and to increase “our presence on the world as one voice.”
He said the OIC was a platform for Muslim countries through which “we can work together by a common strategy in resolving any issue of Muslims in the world.”
He said during the journey of 50 years, the OIC the second largest global platform had made many notable achievements.
Qureshi said, “The Muslim Ummah (nation), at the moment, stands at a point where millions of innocent people are being targeted in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).”
He said the continued brutal atrocities on unarmed Kashmiris, after Indian illegal and unilateral action, had turned it into a great human tragedy.
He said it was commendable that OIC had raised the issue of atrocities against Kashmiris globally through its resolutions and concrete statements. He said OIC Contact Group for Kashmir had played a leading role in this regard.
The Foreign Minister reiterated that the Kashmir issue must be resolved in the light of the aspirations of the Kashmiris and the UN resolutions for the peace and stability in the region.
Qureshi said, fifty years ago, 25 Muslim countries had pledged to work together to formulate an action plan to protect their common interests and achieve goals in response to a tragic attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque.
He said through this platform “we are finding ways to promote collaboration in various fields including science and technology, economy and trade, education, youth affairs and women’s issues.”
The Foreign Minister said that Pakistan was one of the founding members of the OIC and had always played a key role in the improvement and promotion of this body.
He said that Pakistan had hosted two OIC summits and four Council of Foreign Ministers conferences and Islamabad was also ready to host the 48th Council of Foreign Ministers Meeting.
Expressing solidarity with Palestinian brethren, he said that Pakistan was in favour of a two-state solution for Palestinian issue in accordance with the United Nations and OIC resolutions.
He said the Muslims of Palestine were facing a painful situation and an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital was the only solution of this issue.
