India slams OIC secretary general’s visit to Pakistan-administered Kashmir

NEW DELHI (AA) – India has condemned the visit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) secretary general to Pakistan-administered ‘Azad Kashmir’ as well as his comments on Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) during his visit to Pakistan.

OIC Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha, along with a delegation, had visited parts of Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Sunday. The move was considered provocative by India, which lays claim to the entire disputed region of Muslim majority Kashmir, contrary to the aspirations of the inhabitants.

In a statement, Indian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Arindam Bagchi said: “We strongly condemn the visit of OIC secretary general to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and his comments on J&K during his visit to Pakistan.”

“Let me reiterate that OIC has no locus standi in matters related to J&K, which is an integral and inalienable part of India. Any attempt of interference and meddling in India’s internal affairs by OIC and its secretary general is completely unacceptable,” he said.

Stating that “OIC has already lost its credibility by taking a blatantly communal, partisan and factually incorrect approach,” the spokesman added: “Its secretary general has unfortunately become a mouthpiece of Pakistan.”

The visiting secretary general and the delegation paid respect and offered “fateha” (prayer) in “memory of people who sacrificed their lives for the Kashmir cause,” a Pakistan Foreign Ministry’s statement had said after the visit.

The delegation also visited the Line of Control, a de facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir valley between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India.

The delegation also met and interacted with the Kashmiri migrants and residents of the bordering areas.

Addressing a joint press conference with the President of Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the capital Islamabad, Taha had said that the resolution of the long-smoldering dispute is crucial to regional peace.

Reiterating the OIC’s commitment to the resolution of the dispute, Taha also said his visit is part of efforts to sensitize the international community and the member states on the ongoing situation in the Indian-occupied Kashmir.

Disputed region

Kashmir is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of the region is also controlled by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965, and 1971 – two of them over Kashmir.

Many Kashmiri groups have been fighting against Indian rule for unification with neighboring Pakistan, or independence.

According to several human rights groups, thousands of people have been killed and tortured by the Indian occupation forces in the conflict since 1989.

Already frosty relations between the two countries plummeted to a new low after August 2019, when India scrapped the longstanding special status of Jammu and Kashmir, integrating the previously autonomous state within mainland India — in defiance of UN resolutions.

The two neighbors, however, last year, agreed to honor the 2003 cease-fire along the LoC followed by an exchange of letters between the two premiers and unconfirmed reports of “backdoor” contacts to stem the escalating tensions.

Islamabad, nonetheless, reiterates that the normalization of ties with New Delhi is linked to the review of the August 5 decision, and the ultimate resolution of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN resolutions and the aspirations of the Kashmiri people .