ISLAMABAD: Ambassador Yousef Al Dobeay, the special envoy of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for Jammu and Kashmir, asserted on Wednesday India wanted to maintain its occupation of the disputed Himalayan region while asking it, on behalf of OIC states, to reverse the “illegal” actions taken in August 2019.
New Delhi revoked the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir which allowed it to have its own flag and offered limited autonomy before integrating the region with the rest of the Indian union.
The development prompted Pakistan to downgrade its diplomatic relations with its rival nuclear state since Kashmir, the only Muslim-majority state in India, is internationally considered to be a disputed territory which is claimed by New Delhi and Islamabad in full but is only controlled by them in part.
“The current Indian leadership is bent upon perpetuating the occupation of Jammu and Kashmir,” the OIC special envoy said during a joint media interaction with Pakistan’s foreign secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi in Islamabad. “The Indian authorities are totally crushing the quest of Kashmiri people for their fundamental rights, especially the inalienable right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant United Nations and OIC resolutions.”
He added the OIC and its member countries believed “all the illegal steps taken by the Indian government in 2019 should be revised.”
He noted the 57-member bloc of Islamic states was committed to the Kashmir cause and had sent a fact-finding mission to Kashmir last year to witness the situation on the ground.
Ambassador Al Dobeay said the issue also came up for discussion on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session last month.
“This is my message on behalf of the OIC to all the people concerned, especially the Kashmiri people, that we are with you,” he added. “We also support all your activities that are related to your rights.”
The Pakistani foreign secretary expressed his gratitude in response, saying he wanted to profoundly thank the OIC envoy and his team for “highlighting the legal, political and humanitarian aspects of India’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir which has further aggravated since India’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5th of August 2019.”
