India Rejects OIC Statement Questioning India’s Narrative of Pahalgam Terror Attack
NEW DELHI, May 6: India on Tuesday strongly hit out at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for its statement on the ghastly Pahalgam terror attack, calling it “absurd” and “politically motivated.”
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday issued a sharp rebuttal after the OIC Group in New York released a statement that appeared to question India’s narrative on the April 22 attack in which 26 civilians, mostly tourists, were killed in Kashmir’s Pahalgam. The MEA also blamed Pakistan for manipulating the group to push an anti-India agenda.
“The OIC statement, issued at the behest of Pakistan, is absurd in refusing to recognise the facts of the Pahalgam terrorist attack and its cross-border linkages. This is yet another attempt by Pakistan, a country that has long engaged in cross-border terrorism, to manipulate and misguide the OIC Group to issue a self-serving statement. We reject the OIC’s interference in matters that are internal to India,” the statement read.
On Monday, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in New York issued a statement expressing “deep concern over the deteriorating security environment in South Asia.’ According to the state-run Anadolu Agency of Turkey, which is part of the OIC since its establishment, the statement also said India’s “unfounded allegations against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan” were the factor behind escalating tensions between New Delhi and Islamabad.
OIC further stated that the accusations by India risk exacerbating an already volatile situation, and reiterated its “principled position against, and condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomsoever and wherever.”
The group also rejected “all attempts to associate any country, race, religion, culture or nationality with terrorism.” The tension between India and Pakistan rose following the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which killed 26 tourists.
(Manas Dasgupta)
