The attendance of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj at a joint session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Abu Dhabi on March 1 had caught Pakistan by surprise. As a mark of protest, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi did not attend the session and send a representative.
On March 1, when Sushma Swaraj attended the OIC meeting, she called out the member states to condemn and take action against "those countries that were harbouring terrorists", which was a sly reference to Pakistan. Swaraj, who was invited as a guest of honour by the OIC, also said that terrorism has no links with religion and that it is the misguided belief among the youth that needs to be uprooted.
Swaraj told the OIC member states that it had become imperative for all the countries to take action against any such state which is providing shelter and food as well as training terrorists.
A tale of two OIC resolutions
A day later, on March 2, OIC issued a joint Abu Dhabi declaration of its 46th session which was agreed upon by the foreign ministers or heads of delegations of all its 56 member countries.
The declaration made many remarks on the ongoing international conflicts in Muslim countries and in fact, openly criticised Iran. However, there was not a single mention of Jammu and Kashmir in the joint resolution. One interesting pointer was the condemnation of any sort of interference in the internal matters of states, which is also a long-standing position of India on the Kashmir issue.
However, OIC also issued a resolution on Kashmir on the same day hitting India hard by referring to the persistent human rights atrocities in the state. The resolution also mentioned the use of unparalleled force, pellet guns and the cases of mysterious disappearances of civilians, NDTV reported.
It further said that there has been no end to the escalating tension and strikes by Indian force along the Line of Control, which has miffed the Narendra Modi government.
Congress calls OIC a diplomatic blunder while BJP government does damage repair
A separate resolution on Kashmir, though not necessarily agreed upon by the all the member states of OIC, has led the Indian government issue a statement that Kashmir "is strictle India internal matter and that its stand is consistent and known".
However, Congress has launched a scathing attack on India calling OIC resolution a big defeat of the Narendra Modi government.
Modi Govt's 'Diplomatic Victory' turns out to be 'Diplomatic Faux Pas'!
Did PM send our EAM to OIC Meeting for such unacceptable & blasphemous accusations to be hurled at India?
PM must answer to the Nation.https://t.co/YMynJzAhOW
— Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 3, 2019
Modi Govt's 'Diplomatic Victory' turns out to be 'Diplomatic Faux Pas'! Did PM send our EAM to OIC Meeting for such unacceptable & blasphemous accusations to be hurled at India? PM must answer to the Nation.https://t.co/YMynJzAhOW — Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) March 3, 2019
