Roving Periscope: Pak rakes up Kashmir in OIC meet on Afghanistan!
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Ignoring the fact that several countries skipped it for obvious reasons, Pakistan unsuccessfully tried to rake up even the Kashmir issue—but got no response!–at the just-concluded Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) meeting it had called to garner global support to the Taliban’s government in Afghanistan.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Ahmed Khan Niazi, who has been urging the OIC chief, Saudi Arabia, since August 2019, to call a meeting on Jammu and Kashmir, once again brought up the Kashmir agenda at the two-day conclave on Afghanistan which ended in Islamabad on Sunday. He called on the 57-member states of OIC to make a “unified plan” for the region, according to a media report on Monday.
Speaking at the 17th Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, Imran claimed the people of Palestine and Kashmir wanted to see a ‘unified response” from the Muslim world about their democratic and human rights. The OIC must play its role to help the world understand the teachings of Islam and “our love and affection for the last Prophet Hazrat Mohammad”.
Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa also said the resolution of the Kashmir issue was important for regional peace and stability. During a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, on the sidelines of the OIC meeting, he also tried to rake up the Kashmir issue.
The Pakistan army said in a statement on Sunday Gen. Bajwa “also emphasized that peaceful resolution of Kashmir dispute is essential for stability in South Asia” and “reiterated that Pakistan wants cordial ties with all its neighbors in pursuit of regional peace and prosperity”.
Interestingly, foreign ministers of the five Central Asian Muslim countries bordering Afghanistan—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan–abstained from the OIC meeting and attended a parallel meeting in India on the same issue!
The OIC meeting on Kabul in Islamabad concluded with no direct announcement of economic and humanitarian help for the war-ravaged country.
According to reports, envoys from only 24 Islamic nations and observer delegations took part in the biggest event on the Afghanistan issue after the fall of the US-backed government in Kabul in August. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan had prompted the international community to freeze the war-ravaged country’s over USD 10 billion dollars in aid and assets, plunging the nation of 38 million people into the worst economic and humanitarian disaster.
To ensure the safety of OIC representatives in terror-infested Pakistan, Islamabad had even declared public holidays, shut down telephones, and clamped several restrictions. Islamabad claimed 70 delegations, including interim Taliban Foreign Minister Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi, and delegates from the US, China, Russia, the European Union, and the UN, took part in the event.
At the end of the session, a draft resolution was resolved to arrange for a team of international Muslim scholars to engage with the Taliban on issues “such as, but not limited to, tolerance and moderation in Islam, equal access to education, and women’s rights in Islam”.
In his keynote address, the Pakistan PM warned the global community that situation in Afghanistan would become the biggest “man-made crisis in the world” if it did not act immediately. No other country had suffered as much as Afghanistan, he said, adding that 75 percent of the country’s budget was supported by foreign aid before the Taliban had seized control.
He urged Washington to delink the Taliban government from the Afghan citizens. “They have been in conflict with the Taliban for 20 years but this concerns the people of Afghanistan,” Khan said, reiterating that Afghanistan would head for chaos if the world failed to take immediate action.
“Such a situation will not suit the US because chaos means the inability to fight terrorism.” He noted that the Taliban had to fulfill the commitments they had made to the international community, which included forming an inclusive government and ensuring women’s rights.
Earlier, the acting Afghan Foreign Minister claimed the Taliban government has restored peace and security and done much to address demands for a more inclusive government with respect for human rights, including the rights of women.
