ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday launched the official anthem of 48th session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers, which is scheduled to be held in Islamabad on March 22-23. 

Islamabad expects 56 OIC member states to participate in the next week’s conference, themed as "Partnering for Unity, Justice and Development." Prime Minister Imran Khan will deliver a keynote address at the inaugural session. 

Apart from addressing core issues on the agenda, particularly Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir, the conference discussions would focus on key priorities such as countering Islamophobia, recovery from Covid-19 pandemic and diverse matters of peace and security, economic development, cultural and scientific cooperation and revitalizing the role of OIC. 

The anthem was originally sung by Mehdi Zaheer and written by Jamiluddin Aali. It was the official song for the 2nd Islamic Summit Conference in Lahore in 1974. The new rendition for the OIC meeting is in the voice of singer Ali Zafar. 

"You will find a theme in it and that theme is the Holy Quran," Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said at the launching ceremony. 

"And that theme is 'and hold firmly to the rope of Allah and do not be divided'," he quoted a verse from chapter Al-Imran of the Holy Quran. 

Hussain, who jointly launched the anthem with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, said Aali had written the anthem on the same theme.  

"We have only re-recorded it. It has the same old theme, lyrics and composition," he added. 

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said it was an honour for Pakistan to host the conference for the second time in a few months. "This session is also unique for us as it is coinciding with the 75th Pakistan Day. We have invited all the visiting guests to attend the national parade of Pakistan," he said. 

The minister said the session was being held at a critical juncture, when the Muslim world was facing many problems, including the Palestine issue, Kashmir dispute, humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and Islamophobia as well as global challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic, economic contraction and climate change.  

"We will get a chance to exchange views and devise a comprehensive strategy. Over a hundred resolutions will be discussed and efforts will be made to achieve a consensus on them," he said. 

The participants would discuss how to collectively use their resources for the progress, prosperity, solidarity and strengthening of the Muslim world, Qureshi added. 

Last year, around 70 delegations from OIC member states, non-members and regional and international organizations attended the 17th Extraordinary Session of the OIC's Council of Foreign Ministers hosted by Islamabad to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.  

At the summit's conclusion, OIC member states agreed to establish a Humanitarian Trust Fund to channel assistance, appoint a special envoy and work together with the United Nations in the war-ravaged country.