India Rejects OIC’s ‘Malicious’ Agenda, Says Pakistan ‘Misused’ Forum

India on Monday rejected the anti-India references in resolutions adopted at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Baghdad. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called them “malicious, biased, and false” and said Pakistan had orchestrated them.

“We are disappointed that the OIC has once again allowed itself to be misused by Pakistan for its bigoted agenda,” the MEA said in a statement. The meeting was held on October 17 and 18.

The MEA said the OIC has “no locus standi whatsoever” to comment on matters that are strictly internal to India. It reiterated that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are “integral and inalienable parts of India,” and that “politically motivated propaganda can never alter this reality.”

The ministry said that since the abrogation of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir has seen significant economic growth, with benefits reaching its people directly through infrastructure development, tourism and connectivity.

THE PoJK CHARGE

The MEA contrasted this with Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK), where it alleged Pakistan has “unleashed violence, repression and brutality on civilian protesters, killing scores of them, including women and children.” It said no media blackout had hidden the “grave violations of human rights.” These are the MEA’s claims, and the statement did not cite a source for the casualty figures.

The only issues relating to Jammu and Kashmir that remain to be addressed, it added, are Pakistan vacating areas under its “illegal and forcible occupation” and ending its support for cross-border terrorism.

ISLAMOPHOBIA REFERENCES

India also dismissed other references against it in the resolutions, including insinuations on Islamophobia. These were, the MEA said, “a desperate attempt by Pakistan to divert international attention” from its own record on minority persecution and sectarian violence, as well as governance failure and political instability.

A QUESTION OF CREDIBILITY

The OIC’s repeated endorsement of what the MEA called “patently malicious propaganda and narratives” raised serious questions about its credibility and integrity. The ministry said it hoped the organisation’s members would reform it.

With inputs from ANI