Prime Minister Imran Khan delivered a keynote address at the inaugural session of the 48th Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at the Parliament House in Islamabad on Tuesday. While talking about the OIC’s role, he said, “We have failed both the Palestinians and the people of Kashmir. I am sad to say that we have been able to make no impact at all.” The premier said Western countries did “not take the OIC seriously” because “we are a divided house and those powers know it.
“We (Muslims) are 1.5 billion people and yet our voice to stop this blatant injustice is insignificant.”
PM Imran said international law was on the side of the people of Palestine and Kashmir, adding that the United Nations Security Council’s resolutions backed the right of the Kashmiris to self-determination through a plebiscite. However, the international community never ensured that right was given, he said.
Referring to India’s stripping of occupied Kashmir’s special status in August 2019, he said “nothing happened because they (India) feels no pressure.” “They feel we can just [pass] a resolution and then [go] back to our usual business.”
He cautioned that unless the OIC was united on core issues, human rights abuses would keep happening such as the “daylight robbery in Palestine”. “The only hope I have is that for the first time because of social media, there is awareness in Western countries. Much more than the OIC, it is the mobile phone and the spread of information of the injustices being done to the Palestinians … at the moment, that is the best way to protect them, not us.”
He said India was changing the demography in occupied Kashmir by bringing in settlers from outside but “no one has pushed about it because they think we are ineffective.”
Resolution against Islamophobia
The PM began his speech congratulating the Muslim world for the recent adoption of a resolution against Islamophobia by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), that proclaims March 15 as International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
Afghanistan and Ukraine
The premier also spoke about the global situation, expressing his apprehension that the world is “headed in the wrong way”.
Qureshi urges collective response
Qureshi urged the OIC to forge a collective response to meet the challenges faced by the Muslim Ummah, emphasising that the OIC is the collective voice of nearly two billion Muslims.
‘China stands with Palestinians’
Taking the stage at the OIC moot, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that maintaining friendly relations lies at the heart of the traditions of China.
Source: dawn.com
