The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has reiterated its support for the cause of the people of Kashmir and has condemned the wave of state-sponsored extremism in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) in a resolution adopted by the 46th session of Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM). The Kashmir Dispute has been the longest withstanding debate between India and Pakistan ever since the independence of both countries.
The recent tragic terrorist attack in Pulwama reaffirms the need to find a diplomatic solution to the problem because without resolution of the Kashmir issue, peace in South Asia will remain a distant dream. For the longest time, India has conveniently masked the human rights violations in the Kashmir Valley by a stronghold on the media and by maintaining ties with the Western world. However, the Pulwama attack, and the Indian response to it, has shown the world how India needs to be pushed to the dialogue table.
The recent aggression between Pakistan and India has given this debate a global audience, with India pushing for the narrative of war and Pakistan offering a peace dialogue. It is evident that Pakistan has faced its share of extremism in the country and cannot afford to engage in war jingoism, whereas, Indian media and politicians supported ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s announcement of war before the elections to manipulate the voters. With an international audience to the controversy, Pakistan has a platform to showcase its fair stance in front of the global community in the Kashmir debate.
The people of Kashmir have suffered endlessly due to the Indian government’s lack of interest in resolving the issue. The global political regime, realising the importance of both India and Pakistan and the upcoming economic development in the region, must engage the two countries to develop bilateral ties and help end the human rights violations in Kashmir. With the intelligent diplomatic footing of Pakistan, we have already seen an improvement in the response of the international community. This time neither India’s violation of the Line of Control (LOC) nor the challenging of Pakistan’s sovereignty went unnoticed. Building on the same narrative, Pakistani diplomats now need to assert Pakistan’s willingness to resolve matters and unveil India’s aggressive foreign policy towards Pakistan. The region of Kashmir has not witnessed development and growth in over 70 years. They are being denied the most basic of rights with the political institutions failing to overcome the challenge.
Source: https://nation.com.pk/04-Mar-2019/oic-favours-kashmir
