Islamabad, 13 October 2023 (TDI): Special envoy of the Secretary General of Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Jammu and Kashmir Yousef M. Al Dobeay called on Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Jalil Abbas Jilani, on October 12.
The Foreign Minister greeted the special envoy during the meeting and also expressed his gratitude for the OIC’s ongoing assistance to the Kashmiri people.
He also praised the OIC’s steadfast support for the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination in conformity with pertinent UN Security Council resolutions.
Earlier, OIC requested that India change its unlawful and unilateral decision to change Jammu and Kashmir’s status as an autonomous region and provide the valley’s residents their legal rights.
Yousef M. Al-Dobeay and Foreign Secretary Syrus Sajjad Qazi gave the remarks at a news conference on October 11.
Moreover, the OIC said it will continue to support Kashmiris’ efforts to exercise their right to self-determination.
The special envoy is now in Pakistan and will soon travel to Azad Jammu and Kashmir to examine the human rights and humanitarian conditions there.
Yousef Al-Dobeay voiced worry on India’s unlawful and unilateral acts on August 5, 2019, which made the Kashmiris a vulnerable minority.
He said that the purpose of his trip to Azad Jammu and Kashmir was to learn more about the actual, local situation there in advance of the impending 15th OIC Islamic Summit, which would take place in the Gambia in December.
The OIC representative reminded that the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir, which convened in September in New York alongside the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, reiterated the intrinsic right to self-determination of the J&K people.
The summit, according to him, also voiced grave concern about the ongoing restrictions on the basic freedoms and rights of the populace in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
The OIC representative thanked the Pakistani government for bringing up the Jammu and Kashmir issue at international forum and reaffirmed the OIC’s commitment to continuing to support the cause.
Foreign Secretary Syrus Sajjad Qazi stated that the meeting with the OIC representative primarily centered around a comprehensive discussion of the Jammu and Kashmir conflict and India’s ongoing human rights violations in IIOJK.
He mentioned that the OIC envoy will embark on a journey to the Line of Control (LoC), where he will receive a briefing on the current situation.
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Moreover, he stated that he will speak with the Kashmiri delegates to better understand their situation.
According to the Foreign Secretary, the OIC’s special envoy on Jammu and Kashmir received a crucial assignment.
He asserted that the fundamental freedoms and rights of the Kashmiri people remained constrained.
For an extended period, he emphasized, the complete Hurriyat political leadership, serving as the authentic voice of the Kashmiri people, had been subjected to unjust detention.
Around 4,000 political activists and human rights advocates are currently in custody, he continued.
