Pakistan expects highest level of participation in OIC-CFMs moot

ABU DHABI: Pakistan's top diplomat in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has said that his country expects the highest level of participation at the 48th Session of OIC- Council of Foreign Ministers (CFMs) in Islamabad on March 22 and 23.

"We expect that all the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries would be participating at the highest level because it is taking place at a challenging time and we have so many issues to address together and to tap the potential of the cooperation," the Ambassador of Pakistan to the UAE, Afzaal Mahmood told the UAE official news agency (WAM) in an interview at the Pakistan Embassy in Abu Dhabi. Ambassador of Pakistan underscored the importance of upcoming 48th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) being hosted by Pakistan on March 22-23.

The foreign ministers of all OIC countries are invited to discuss on behalf of their governments and for the collective benefits of all Muslims, according to the ambassador. The OIC-CFM is coinciding with the 75th anniversary of Pakistan Independence Day celebrations, and the participating foreign ministers in the OIC-CFM will be invited to attend the Pakistan Day parade as ‘guest of honour’, he added.

The envoy stated that Pakistan and the UAE enjoy a "very pleasant relationship and discuss all issues regularly", he presented the invitation to the UAE Minister of State, to participate in the meeting. He informed that the UAE confirmed its participation in the meeting. Pakistan has hosted the OIC CFMs on four occasions: 2nd Session in December 1970, 11th Session in May 1980, 21st Session in April 1993, and the 34th Session in May 2007. The 1st and the 17th Extraordinary Sessions of the OIC CFM, were held in Islamabad, in January 1980 and December 2021, respectively. The UAE participated in the 17th session of the Emergency Meeting of the OIC CFM, which was convened in Islamabad in December, 2021, to discuss the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.