ISLAMABAD – The Saudis reject Islamabad’s request to call an OIC’s foreignminister meeting on Kashmir.
If the reports are accurate, then Pakistan is in a fix.
Saudi Arabia has reportedlylinkturneddown Islamabad’s bid to call a meeting of top Muslim diplomats on thedisputed territory of Kashmir.
Pakistan is seeking an immediate session of the Council of ForeignMinisters (CFM) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC),considered one of the most important platforms where the 57-member bodydiscusses important issues.
Indian media was quick to jump on the story with headlines saying howPakistan has been ‘snubbedlink’and ‘rejectedlink’by the Saudis.
“There’s been a shift in the body language of Saudi Arabia, the UAE andother Gulf countries in recent years,” says Khalid Rahman, the head ofIslamabad-based think tank Institute of Policy Studies.
Both India and Pakistan control parts of the Himalayan region of Kashmir.But in August last year, New Delhi stripped autonomy from the territory,sparking protests amid fears that it will change the demography of the onlyMuslim-majority Indian state.
Read Top Stories
The region has been under a security crackdown and information blockadesince August last year.
More than 12 million people are cut off from the rest of the world asinternet service remains suspended for most of the time.
Pakistan has struggled to bring global attention to the plight of theKashmiris. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – Pakistan’slong-standing allies – have not been persistent in their support overKashmir, experts say.
“But it’s not only confined to Kashmir. It has to with their overallapproach towards the region. Take Palestine for example, and you’d see thatthe old stance is not there,” Rahman says.
