India objects to Pakistan raising Kashmir in Organisation of Islamic Cooperation

We reject such references to a matter very internal to India, MEA has said.

Photo courtesy: Twitter/@AzerbaijanMFA

New Delhi: Maintaining that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation has no right to discuss matters related to India's internal affairs, a strong objection was raised against Pakistan's move to once again highlight Jammu and Kashmir in the international organisation with 57 member states.

OIC was founded in 1969 with the primary objective of promoting peace and harmony -  especially in the Muslim-majority countries. However, it has no authority to discuss or comment on internal matters of any country - a point highlighted by India on Wednesday. "As far as OIC is concerned, we always note with regret that the matter which is very internal to Indian affairs was again discussed at OIC," said Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of MEA. "We reject such references to a matter very internal to India."

Kumar's strong comments came shortly after Pakistan - once again - raised the Kashmir issue at OIC and accused India of committing atrocities against locals in the state. It has long been a Pakistani strategy to bring about any discussion or talk possible at international forums which revolves around Kashmir. Earlier this year - in June, Pakistan had raised Kashmir issue at OIC's Dhaka meet as well, only to be snubbed strongly by India. In the end, only one of 39 resolutions adopted at the end of that meet made any mention of Jammu and Kash

India has, in fact, repeatedly countered saying that the state of Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter and that no other country has any right or authority to interfere. "We have said in the past that OIC has no locus standi to comment on India's internal affairs. We feel that it is completely unwarranted to discuss matter related to India's internal affairs in any multi-cultural setup," Kumar said.