ISLAMABAD: Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Wednesday Islamabad expected the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to call a foreign minister’s meeting on the Kashmir issue, saying it would hold a meeting outside the OIC forum if it did not stand by Pakistan.

The foreign minister’s comments have generated much controversy in Pakistan, which has had historically strong ties with many members of the OIC, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who have for decades provided both moral and financial support. 

The Himalayan Kashmir valley is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan. The two countries have gone to war thrice over it, and both rule parts of it. 

On Wednesday, Pakistan observed a day of solidarity to mark one year since August 5 when India stripped the autonomy of the part of Kashmir it administers, unleashing tensions with Pakistan.

“Today I will once again make a humble request to the leadership of the OIC: calling a meeting of the council of foreign ministers is our expectation,” the Pakistani foreign minister said in a TV interview to a Pakistani news channel. “If you cannot call it, then I will be forced to tell my prime minister that those Muslim countries who want to stand with us on the issue of Kashmir and who want to side with the oppressed people of Kashmir, let’s call a meeting of them, whether that is on the OIC forum or not.”

He added: “Today OIC has to decide that does it want to stand with Pakistan on this sensitive issue … The time has come that the OIC come out of this avoidance, this hide and seek.”

At a briefing at the foreign office on Thursday, outgoing spokesperson Aisha Farouqui said Pakistan and the people of Pakistan had higher expectations from the OIC than any other international organization because of “our deep-rooted fraternal ties with the OIC member states and with the OIC itself.”

“So the statement made by the foreign minister in the interview was a reflection of the people’s aspirations and expectations from the OIC to take forward the Jammu and Kashmir dispute internationally,” she said. “As a nation, we would like it [OIC] to play a leading role in raising the Jammu and Kashmir issue internationally.” 

The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission of the OIC this week condemned India for its security and communications blockade of disputed Kashmir, which has continued since August 5 last year when the government of Narendra Modi stripped the region of its special status.