ISLAMABAD, March 23: The OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir comprising Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, Niger and a representative of the OIC secretary general met under the chairmanship of Iran during the 60th Session of the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on Tuesday.
The representative of Sudan also attended the meeting as the Contact Group reaffirmed the Muslim worlds' support to the Kashmiris struggle for the right to self-determination.
The group expressed appreciation for Pakistan for its unilateral ceasefire along the Line of Control that has been subsequently observed by both parties. The group also welcomed the appointment of the Special Representative of the OIC Secretary General on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and urged him to continue his endeavours to visit Indian-held Kashmir.
The group called for an immediate end to the gross and consistent violations of human rights and called for grant of access to international human rights bodies.
The group rejected any attempt to denigrate the Kashmiri people's valiant struggle for self-determination as terrorism and recognized that elections in Jammu and Kashmir were no substitute to the UN-administered plebiscite for enabling the people of Jammu and Kashmir to realize their just right.
The contact group welcomed the January 6 joint statement between Pakistan and India which chalks out a roadmap for composite dialogue on all issues including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, and expressed the hope that the Pakistan-India composite talks would pave the way for a just settlement of Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the legitimate aspiration of the Kashmiri people and their inalienable right to self- determination as granted in the United Nations Security Council resolutions. -APP
