Pakistan announces boycott of OIC meeting of Council of Foreign Ministers
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ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday announced he will not attend a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) being hosted by the United Arab Emirates on March 1-2.
Qureshi made the announcement in a joint session of the Parliament, which continued for a second day today in the wake of Indian aggression against Pakistan.
Reiterating his protest against the OIC's decision to invite Indian Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to attend the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Abu Dhabi, Qureshi said he will not attend the session due to the inter-governmental organisation's failure to rescind the invitation to his Indian counterpart.
Mentioning that the "UAE has always helped Pakistan in difficult times", Qureshi noted with regret that despite Pakistan's protest, the OIC's invitation to Swaraj was not rescinded.
"There was no consultation over OIC invitation to Indian foreign minister. India is neither a member nor an observer of the OIC," Qureshi pointed out, adding that he sent two letters - the latest only yesterday - to the UAE calling upon the body to withdraw its invitation to the Indian foreign minister.
Qureshi informed the Parliament that he requested the OIC to either rescind the invitation or postpone the session in view of the prevailing situation, neither of which was done.
