New Delhi (NVI): Three days after Pakistan urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to “step up its efforts” and put pressure on the Indian Government to resolve the Kashmir issue, the Ministry of External Affairs today clarified that the organisation has no locus standi in matters strictly internal to India.
India’s reaction comes after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi made remarks on Kashmir during a virtual meeting with the OIC Contact group on J&K on Monday.
In his address, Qureshi had urged OIC to step up efforts against India for its decision of revoking Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 last year and bifurcating it into two Union territories.
India has always made its stand clear before the international community that scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter. The MEA in its statement today also hit out at the 57-member grouping of Muslim majority nations, saying OIC should refrain from making unwarranted references on India.
“Our position is consistent on this matter and has no ambiguity. OIC has no locus standi in matters strictly internal to India, including that of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. We have in the past also, reiterated that OIC should refrain from making unwarranted references on India,” the MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at a virtual press briefing here.
Pakistan has been unsuccessfully trying to drum up support in the international community over India’s move to rollback Article 370 that gave a special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
-ARK
