UNITED NATIONS: The OIC Contact Group on Kashmir has reaffirmed its support to the Kashmiri people’s “legitimate” struggle for their right to self-determination, and strongly rejected Indian leaders’ “unwarranted” claims over Azad Jammu & Jammu and Gilgit-Baltistan.
A joint statement issued following the meeting also underlined that the Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly polls in Occupied Kashmir cannot serve as a substitute for the grant of the right to self-determination to the people of Kashmir.
It also emphasized that durable stability and peace in South Asia remain contingent upon the Kashmir issue’s final settlement as per the UNSC resolutions and the Kashmiri people’s aspirations.
The meeting was presided over by OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha. Ministers and top officials of Pakistan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and Niger attended the meeting.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of the UNGA ‘s 79th session. Pakistani side was represented at the Contact Group by Minister for Defence Affairs Khawaja Mohammad Asif.
At the outset, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif briefed members of the Contact Group regarding the deteriorating situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, saying that human rights abuses and violations were rampant.
The communique also called for reversing all unlawful and unilateral steps taken on or after 5 August 2019, stopping the systematic, gross, and widespread human rights abuses in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, halting and reversing the unlawful demographic changes in the disputed region, permitting unrestricted access to UN Special procedures, international press, and independent observers to visit the disputed region.
