Pakistan seeks OIC meeting on Kashmir, Saudis show reluctance

Shah Mahmood Qureshi

ISLAMABAD: A bellicose and rather desperate Pakistan wanting to ratchet up the volume over Kashmir tried a spanking new manoeuvre on Thursday. The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation wary of Pakistan’s antics is refusing to hold foreign ministers meeting on Kashmir. A troubled Pakistan however, is unwilling to listen and is looking to appeal to the Islamic Umma and hold a confabulation of its own.

A panicky Pakistan realizing that it is losing the momentum on Kashmir has been literally pushing the 57-member organization, which is the second-largest intergovernmental body after the UN, for the foreign ministers’ meeting since India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir last August.

In a television interview foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that if OIC cannot call for such a meeting then he would ask PM Imran Khan to give a clarion call to the Islamic conclave. OIC bloc heavy hitter Saudi Arabia has been remaining steadfast on not going ahead with a meeting specifically on Kashmir.

In a virtual meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir held as recently on the request of Pakistan on June 22, Qureshi had asked the Islamic bloc to expedite its efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue.