Daily Times

As the foreign ministers of the OIC member states gathered here in the capital city of Cameroon, for a two-day 50th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, Pakistan called for unity and resolve to address the challenges confronting the Islamic Ummah including the ongoing foreign occupation of Palestine and IIOJK, terrorism and Islamophobia.

Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi, who led the Pakistani delegation at the CFM, highlighted the oppressive foreign occupation of Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir, and the conflicts across the world, fueled by endemic poverty, terrorist and extremist groups and external interventions.

He told the gathering that over 40,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, have been martyred and nearly two million displaced by Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.

The foreign secretary called for developing a clear and bold plan to secure the implementation of the goals and objectives agreed upon by the OIC leaders at the 15th Islamic Summit in Gambia and last month’s extraordinary OIC Executive Committee meeting in Saudi Arabia.

“We must urgently secure an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank; ensure unrestricted humanitarian aid to Gaza; prevent the spread of the conflict to the entire Middle East, while holding Israel accountable for its criminal assassinations and violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iran, Lebanon and other States; admit Palestine as a full member State of the United Nations; and establish a viable, secure, contiguous, and sovereign State of Palestine based on pre-1967 borders, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital,” he said.

Highlighting the Kashmir dispute, he called for its resolution for a durable peace in South Asia. He said since August 5, 2019, India initiated unilateral steps to annex occupied Jammu and Kashmir and impose what India’s leaders ominously called a Final Situation for Kashmir.

The foreign secretary said the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) remained one of the most heavily militarized zones in the world, where the Indian occupation forces continue to impose draconian measures including extra-judicial killings, collective punishments, incarceration of Kashmiri leaders as well as demographic changes to transform Kashmir from a Muslim-majority to a Hindu majority territory.

Reiterating Pakistan’s rejection of all attempts to conduct any farcical elections in IIOJK, the foreign secretary asked India to reverse the unilateral measures taken since 5 August 2019, and accept the UN Secretary General’s offer of Good Offices.

“The situation in Jammu and Kashmir poses an ever-present threat to regional and global peace and security. Even a minor incident could trigger a wider conflict, which could escalate to dangerous dimensions. The international community cannot afford to ignore this threat any longer.”

Foreign Secretary Qazi called for implementing the 48th CFM’s Action Plan on Jammu and Kashmir, end India’s human rights violations in the IIOJK; and demand action by India and the international community to promote a peaceful solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.

He said that Islamophobia had emerged as a global crisis, marked by frequent desecration of the Holy Quran, attacks on mosques, negative stereotyping of Muslims and acts of discrimination and violence against them.

“We must work within the OIC, including through the OIC Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Islamophobia, to reach out to the United Nations to develop an Action Plan to Combat Islamophobia,” he emphasised.

Coming to the resurge of terrorism to threaten regional and global peace and security, he said Pakistan was the biggest victim of terrorism having contributed the most to fight terrorism.

“The OIC must work collectively to combat all forms of terrorism, including by expanding the scope of the UN counter-terrorism framework and reforming its architecture, including the UN Security Council sanctions regimes, to eliminate all terrorist groups, including ISIL-K, Al Qaida and the TTP, as well as Islamophobic, supremacist, and far-right groups and ideologies,” he added.

Reiterating Pakistan’s desire for the earliest possible normalization of the situation in Afghanistan, he urged the international community to provide sustained humanitarian assistance to the over 25 million destitute Afghans, steps to revive the Afghan economy and banking system, including release of their frozen national assets, implementation of planned infrastructure and connectivity projects and, eventually, easing of sanctions and diplomatic recognition.

He also emphasised the Afghan Interim Government to respond to the concerns of the international community, including respect for human rights, including the rights of women and girls, political inclusivity and, in particular, action to neutralize all terrorist groups within Afghanistan and those responsible for cross- border terrorism against neighbouring countries – ISIL-K (Daesh), the TTP, and others such as the ETIM, IMU and the TTT.

“Credible action by the AIG against TTP and other terrorist groups based in Afghanistan would create space for normalization of Afghanistan and support our efforts to harness the full potential of regional trade and connectivity.”