Pakistan faces embarassing setback on Foreign Policy front
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ISLAMABAD - The Saudis reject Islamabad’s request to call an OIC's foreign minister meeting on Kashmir.
If the reports are accurate, then Pakistan is in a fix.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly link turned down Islamabad’s bid to call a meeting of top Muslim diplomats on the disputed territory of Kashmir.
Pakistan is seeking an immediate session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), considered one of the most important platforms where the 57-member body discusses important issues.
Indian media was quick to jump on the story with headlines saying how Pakistan has been ‘snubbed link’ and ‘rejected link’ by the Saudis.
“There’s been a shift in the body language of Saudi Arabia, the UAE and other Gulf countries in recent years,” says Khalid Rahman, the head of Islamabad-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 only Muslim-majority Indian state.
The region has been under a security crackdown and information blockade since August last year.
More than 12 million people are cut off from the rest of the world as internet service remains suspended for most of the time.
Pakistan has struggled to bring global attention to the plight of the Kashmiris. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) - Pakistan’s long-standing allies - have not been persistent in their support over Kashmir, experts say.
“But it’s not only confined to Kashmir. It has to with their overall approach towards the region. Take Palestine for example, and you’d see that the old stance is not there,” Rahman says.
