Thu. Mar 28th, 2024

Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has threatened to boycott the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting on Wednesday if Indian external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj joins the meeting which was scheduled to take place next month in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

According to TOI news reports, Swaraj has been invited in the OIC meeting as a “guest of honour” at the inaugural ceremony of the foreign ministers’ conclave in UAE on March 1 and 2nd.

Qureshi told Geo News: “I have no reservations with the OIC or any other Islamic country. My reservations are with Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj’s attendance at the OIC meeting.”

He said, “If Swaraj attends the meeting then I will not participate in it.”

He said he has shared this with the United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres as well as Turkish foreign minister Melvut Cavusogle during their telephonic conversation.

Qureshi has quoted Cavusogle as saying: “We believe India has committed aggression against a brother Islamic country and attacked a founding member of the OIC.”

He added saying, “The Turkish foreign minister said there is no reason for Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj to attend the meeting of the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) and Turkey will fully oppose her invitation and opportunity to address.”

Yesterday, Qureshi said he had spoken with his Abu Dhabi counterpart Shiekh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan and expressed his reservations over the invitation to Swaraj.

Qureshi said, “Under the current circumstances, it will not be possible for me to attend OIC meeting where Swaraj is present.”

Meanwhile, the OIC has “condemned” India’s “incursion and aerial violation” in Islamabad, on Tuesday.

It has urged both India and Pakistan to restrain and also avoid taking steps that would endanger security and peace in the region.

The OIC contact group on Jammu and Kashmir held an emergency meeting at the OIC general secretariat in Jeddah and expressed deep concern over the heightened tension in the region and called for immediate de-escalation.

The group is an international organization which was founded in 1969, consisting of 40 countries being Muslim majority countries and 57 member states.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *