ISLAMABAD – Pakistan strongly rejected the statement by the Spokesperson ofIndian Ministry of External Affairs containing baseless objection to theinvitation extended by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to theKashmiri leadership for the 48th Session of OIC Council of ForeignMinisters to be held in Islamabad from 22-23 March 2022.
India has no locus standi to claim the disputed territory of Jammu andKashmir as its “internal matter”, Foreign Office spokesperson Asim Iftikharsaid in a statement on Thursday.
Numerous resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Jammuand Kashmir dispute declare that the final disposition of the state ofJammu and Kashmir will be made in accordance with the will of the people tobe expressed through the democratic method of a free and impartialplebiscite to be held under the auspices of the United Nations.
India’s repeated assertions to the contrary cannot obfuscate the reality ofits illegal occupation and repression in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammuand Kashmir (IIOJK).
Universal realization of the right of peoples to self-determination is aprinciple enshrined in the UN Charter. UNSC and OIC have recognized thisright for the people of Jammu and Kashmir who have been subjugated toillegal Indian occupation since 1947.
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Accordingly, OIC has consistently supported the just struggle of theKashmiri people for their right to self-determination, and hastraditionally invited the Kashmiri leadership to attend the OIC meetings.
Pakistan calls upon India not to create hurdles in the participation of thetrue representatives of the Kashmiri people in the 48th Session of the OICCouncil of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad on 22-23 March 2022.
Instead of questioning OIC’s principled stance for the dignity and libertyof the oppressed Kashmiri people, India should reflect inwards and end itsrepression and widespread violations of human rights and internationalhumanitarian law in IIOJK, and let the Kashmiri people exercise their rightto self-determination in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the UNSecurity Council.
