ISLAMABAD: Pakistan informed a visiting Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) official this week the people of Indian-administered Kashmir have high expectations from the Muslim world and the 57-member bloc in their struggle for fundamental rights and freedoms under Indian rule, the foreign ministry said on Thursday.
The statement came a day after India announced a series of retaliatory measures against Pakistan following a deadly militant attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people at a tourist resort.
According to the foreign office, OIC Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassador Yousef M. Al Dobeay, visited Pakistan from April 19 to 22, during which he held meetings with Pakistani officials.
“The Special Envoy was apprised of the systematic human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and the destabilizing impact of India’s belligerent rhetoric and retrogressive actions,” the foreign office said.
“It was underscored that the Kashmiris placed their trust in the OIC and the Muslim Ummah for proactive assistance in realization of their fundamental rights and freedoms, and the peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” it added.
Ambassador Al Dobeay emphasized that Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir remained foremost priorities on the OIC’s agenda and discussed ways to alleviate the sufferings of the Kashmiri people.
This was Ambassador Al Dobeay’s fifth visit to Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir since his appointment as the OIC Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir.
India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, closed the only land border crossing at Attari, expelled Pakistani defense attachés at its high commission in New Delhi and reduced its own diplomatic staff in Islamabad.
The attack, claimed by the “Kashmir Resistance” group, is said to be the worst on civilians in India in nearly two decades.
