On Saturday, India again condemned Pakistan's repeated efforts to bring up issues concerning India's internal affairs during sessions of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day Saudi Arabian visit next week, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri dismissed Pakistan's lies and attempts to exploit the OIC platform. He underlined that India has all along expressed reservations about Pakistan's conduct in the OIC and will continue to do so.
Misri said, "It is an old habit, one to which we have consistently objected and also brought to the attention of our friends and like-minded partners in the OIC.". There is a certain perception regarding these shenanigans that Pakistan indulges in the OIC on the part of our friends and colleagues among the other members of the OIC but we will keep on sharing our perceptions and bringing to their notice what precisely we feel about these efforts that Pakistan makes regularly," in his media briefing in New Delhi.
The OIC, with 57 member states from four continents, describes itself as the "collective voice" of the Muslim world and seeks to protect the interests of Muslims and promote international peace and harmony. India has time and again sought to correct misperceptions about the nation often perpetuated by Pakistan in OIC platforms. India holds the view that the OIC must not be utilized as a forum for debating India's internal affairs or for propagating anti-India feelings by way of one-sided resolutions.
India has insisted that the OIC lacks jurisdiction in India's internal affairs, including Jammu and Kashmir, which it regards as an integral and inalienable part of the nation.
It is unfortunate that OIC still allows itself to be used by a particular country, which has a dismal record on religious tolerance, radicalism and persecution of minorities, to indulge in anti-India propaganda. We strongly recommend that the OIC desist from making such remarks in the future," a statement from India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, pointing to Pakistan's ongoing efforts.
India has longstanding historical, economic, and strategic ties with the Islamic world, which have strengthened in recent years, particularly under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. Over the past decade, Modi’s diplomatic outreach has enhanced India's relationships with Muslim-majority countries, especially in South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East, contributing to both security and economic interests.
India's interaction with the Gulf, which provides more than 60% of India's crude oil, and the rest of the OIC countries, with whom India has bilateral trade of over $200 billion, has become stronger in recent times.
Prime Minister Modi will travel to Saudi Arabia on April 22 at the invite of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. This will be Modi's third visit to Saudi Arabia, after having visited the country in 2016 and 2019 previously.
The visit follows the State Visit of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to New Delhi in September 2023, when he attended the G20 Summit and co-chaired the first meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.
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