BANJUL (GAMBIA): The Contact Group of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Jammu and Kashmir met here Monday wherein Pakistan stressed that India should revoke all of its unilateral actions of August 5, 2019 in IIOJK and implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions on Kashmir dispute.

Held on the sidelines of the 15th Islamic Summit of the OIC here, the meeting reviewed the political and security environment in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) besides taking stock of the grim human rights situation in the occupied territory.

Chaired by the Assistant Secretary General (Political Affairs) of the OIC and the Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir, Yousaf-Al-Dobeay, the meeting was attended by the member states of the Contact Group i.e. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Niger and Azerbaijan.

A delegation of the True Representatives of the Kashmiri People, and the senior officials of the OIC-Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission were also in attendance.

In his remarks, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, who led the Pakistani delegation, urged the international community to take cognizance of the Indian leaders’ provocative statements and unwarranted claims about Azad Jammu and Kashmir, which constituted a serious threat to regional peace.

He stressed that India must release all the political prisoners, lift curbs on the outlawed political parties, revoke the illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 and the subsequent steps aimed at demographic change and political engineering.

He briefed the Contact Group on India’s ongoing efforts to transform Kashmiris into a disempowered community in their own land.

He apprised the meeting that India was systematically denying the Kashmiri people their fundamental rights and freedoms.

He added that the Indian authorities had created an environment of fear and intimidation in the IIOJK to crush dissent.

The participating delegations from different member states emphasized the importance of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute on the OIC’s agenda, and expressed support for the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiri people for realization of their inalienable right to self-determination in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

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