ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan met the Islamabad-based Ambassadorsof countries belonging to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)today.

Recalling the two letters addressed by him to the leaders of the Islamicworld last year, the prime minister briefed the envoys on Pakistan’sefforts at the international level to create awareness about Islamophobiaand the need to collectively address the phenomenon.

He stressed that Pakistan’s initiatives were aimed at building mutualunderstanding and promoting inter-faith harmony.

Noting that Islamophobic acts fan inter-religious hatred and disharmonyamong civilizations, the Prime Minister called for addressing theunderlying reasons for the rise in such incidents worldwide.

Falsely equating Islam with radicalism and terrorism, he added, was leadingto the marginalization and stigmatization of Muslims.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the vilification of Islamic precepts andreligious personalities, wrongly justified under the garb of the right tofreedom of expression or opinion, hurts the sentiments of 1.5 billionMuslims around the world.

The Prime Minister urged the OIC to work together for making theinternational community understand the deep-rooted love and reverence ofall Muslims for the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.) and the Holy Quran.

The Prime Minister also underlined the need for instituting legalsafeguards aimed at protecting the sensitivities of all religious groups.

He underscored the imperative of OIC’s collective efforts to project thetrue image of Islam, and its message of peace and tolerance.

The Prime Minister reaffirmed that Pakistan remained committed to dialogueand cooperation with all members of the international community forpromoting universal values of tolerance, mutual respect and peacefulco-existence among all nations and peoples.