ISLAMABAD, Aug 17: Pakistan will openly oppose granting of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) membership to any non-Muslim state, including Russia, a senior Foreign Ministry official told Dawn here on Sunday.

The official was responding to a report in a section of the press on Sunday that Russia had expressed its desire to join the 57-nation Conference and that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made a formal request in this regard to Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahatir Mohammad.

When asked what position Pakistan would take as a member of the OIC on this question, the official unhesitatingly said Pakistan would outrightly reject such a proposal. Accepting the Russian membership to the OIC would set a wrong precedent, he argued.

Russia has apparently taken the plea that it has more than 20 million Muslim population and Islam is one of the state religions there.

Discounting the Russian premise, the official said: “In every country there is a certain percentage of Muslim population and if the OIC starts granting membership on this basis then tomorrow Israel, having a 1.5 million Muslim population, will also claim the membership of the OIC.”

He added: “After all, a certain criterion has to be observed, it’s like Pakistan seeking the membership of the Organisation of American States or of the European Union on the pretext of the Muslim population there.”

Clearly, Islamabad’s main concern about acceptance of Russia as an OIC member or even as an observer is that it would pave the way for India’s entry into the OIC that Pakistan has been actively trying to block for some years now.

India has also been very keen on obtaining full OIC membership or the observer status. For the last two years, Sudan and Qatar have been trying to advance India’s case but it has been vetoed by a majority of the key OIC members, including Pakistan.

Currently, no non-Muslim country has been granted either full membership or observer status of the OIC.

Any decision regarding OIC membership or observer status has to be based on consensus.