OIC Contact Group meets: Indian actions threaten peace in region, says Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi Tuesday said the Indian actions in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK) threatened peace in the region.

Qureshi is in Jeddah to attend an emergency meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Kashmir.

In a series of tweets, he said Pakistan had asked the OIC to show solidarity through action with the people of IHK by recognizing that the unilateral step by India was against the very status of IHK as enshrined in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions.

“(The) OIC recognizes that this aggression puts more than 1.5 billion people of South Asia at risk,” he added. The minister further posted that he had reiterated Pakistan’s stance on the peaceful resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute and noted that India’s hostility did not give much hope for a covenant for peace. The Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir met in Jeddah on Tuesday.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi is leading Pakistan’s delegation, Foreign Office Spokesman Dr Muhammad Faisal said in a tweet with tag #KashmirBleeds.

The OIC in a statement on August 4 had called upon the international community to rise up to its responsibility for the peaceful resolution of Jammu and Kashmir dispute through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite in accordance with relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

The OIC General Secretariat had also expressed deep concern over the deteriorating situation in the IHK including deployment of additional paramilitary forces and use of banned cluster ammunition by Indian forces to target civilians.