New Delhi: India on Monday slammed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), rejecting its “unwarranted and factually incorrect” references to India at the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers’ Meeting while reiterating that it has no locus standi to comment on India’s internal affairs, including Jammu and Kashmir,
“These statements, driven by Pakistan, which has turned terrorism into statecraft, reflect the continued misuse of the OIC platform for narrow political ends,” read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
The 51st Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the OIC was held in Turkey’s Istanbul on June 21-22. It adopted 147 resolutions and the Istanbul Declaration.
New Delhi spotlighted that the OIC’s repeated failure to acknowledge the real and documented threat of terrorism emanating from Pakistan, most recently evidenced in the heinous Pahalgam attack, reflects a wilful disregard for facts and the global consensus on the fight against terrorism.
“The OIC has no locus standi to comment on India’s internal affairs, including Jammu & Kashmir, which is an integral and sovereign part of India — a fact enshrined in the Indian Constitution and irreversibly settled. The OIC should reflect deeply on the perils of allowing Pakistan’s propaganda to hijack and politicize its agenda. Any other course can only undermine the OIC’s credibility and relevance,” read the MEA statement.
It mentioned further that the comments made by Pakistan at the OIC meeting are nothing more than a “desperate attempt” to deflect international attention from its own appalling record of state-sponsored terrorism, minority persecution and sectarian violence, apart from failure of governance.
“India also outrightly rejects Pakistan’s baseless allegation of ‘unprovoked and unjustified military aggression’. India’s Operation Sindoor in response to the Pahalgam terror attack was a precise and legitimate act of self-defence against terrorist camps operating from Pakistani territory. It is absurd for Pakistan to speak of targeting only Indian military installations when its retaliatory attempts not only failed but recklessly endangered civilian lives and property and ended up causing several deaths and injuries among the civilian population,” the MEA added.
“It is also ironic that Pakistan, a country with an abysmal human rights record and a history of sheltering, breeding and empowering terrorists, should lecture others on counter-terrorism and human rights,” it added. (IANS)
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