ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday underscored the need for stronger cooperation between the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the United Nations to address pressing global issues.
Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar made the call while presiding over a UN Security Council session at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, to discuss cooperation between the UN and OIC.
“We meet at a moment of deepening global disorder; wars waged with impunity, occupations sustained without accountability, humanitarian crises multiplying, and ideologies of hatred fast becoming normalised,” he said.
He added that Pakistan firmly believes that in this fractured world, the OIC stands as a key political actor, and its partnership with the United Nations must be strengthened, deepened, and further institutionalised.
Dar noted that the cooperation between the United Nations and the OIC is firmly based on Chapter VIII of the UN Charter, which highlights the significance of regional arrangements in supporting the Security Council’s primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.
Deputy Prime Minister/Foreign Minister, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaq50, in his capacity as President of the UN Security Council, delivered Pakistan's statement at the Security-Council Briefing on “Cooperation between the United Nations and regional and sub-regional… pic.twitter.com/rcIO7kSiXK
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) July 24, 2025
Highlighting the role of the OIC, he said, as the second largest inter-governmental organisation after the UN, the OIC has consistently served as a bridge — connecting the global with regional efforts, and aligning political with the humanitarian priorities.
“Its legitimacy derives not only from its vast and diverse membership, but from the principled clarity of its mandate — to uphold justice, protect human dignity, respect national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of all Member States, and advance solidarity among nations,” Ishaq Dar noted.
He said whether in championing the right of the Palestinian people for freedom and statehood, in advocating for the rights of the people of Jammu and Kashmir for self-determination, and end to the prolonged illegal occupation by India, or in supporting peace efforts across Libya, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and the Sahel and beyond — the OIC has been an indispensable interlocutor for the United Nations, also deeply attached to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.
Dar said Pakistan holds its partnership with the OIC in the highest regard. “As a founding member of the OIC and a staunch believer in effective multilateralism, we are of the view that this engagement must transcend and evolve into operational synergy,” the Deputy Prime Minister added.
He went on to say that nowhere is this cooperation more necessary than in countering the rising tide of extremism, particularly the alarming resurgence of Islamophobia.
“Religious hatred is not only morally indefensible — it strikes at the very foundations of the UN Charter,” he said.
He added that the OIC is a vital partner in the international peace and security architecture, particularly in theatres where the UN’s reach alone has proven insufficient.
