MUZAFFARABAD: Former prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and supreme head of Muslim Conference Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan has hailed the OIC foreign ministers’ conference which could go a long way in solving a number of issues facing Ummah.

In a statement on Monday, he called upon the world community to share the OIC concerns about resolving the oldest UN-listed unsettled disputes of Kashmir and Palestine.

“Despite being the oldest, these two issues are no less critical than the new issues like Ukraine in today’s world,” he said.

Mr Khan said people of Jammu and Kashmir were ever grateful to the august organization of OIC for lending principled support to the Kashmir dispute through its numerous declarations and statements.

“Our Kashmir stand is very clear; we want implementation of UN Security Council’s resolutions for peaceful Kashmir settlement. Our struggle is pivoted on restitution of our birth right to determine our political destiny which is enshrined in the UN charter,” he said.

He maintained that the OIC forum was fully competent to address and resolve the strategic and global issues in partnership with the world community.

The former AJK premier expressed the hope that during their two days deliberations in Islamabad, the OIC foreign ministers would focus on the latest colonisation campaign by India in occupied Jammu and Kashmir in violation of UN resolutions which opposed any unilateral geographic and demographic changes in a region listed by the UN as disputed areas.

Meanwhile, Khawaja Farooq Ahmed, a senior PTI leader and member of the AJK cabinet, has chided the opposition for intentionally trying to undermine the significance of the OIC foreign ministers’ meet in Islamabad as a result of “Prime Minister Imran Khan’s exceptional diplomacy.”

“The conference is being held at a time when the conspiracies of imperialistic powers against Pakistan are at their peak. What’s more painful is the willful contribution of the opposition to such intrigues,” said Mr Ahmed, who holds the portfolio of local government and rural development.

He asserted that PM Khan had adopted an independent and effective foreign policy, which had subsequently given Pakistan a prominent place in the comity of nations.

Mr Ahmed also welcomed the UN resolution against Islamophobia “as a result of consistent efforts by PM Khan” and said it reflected the sentiments of every single Muslim around the globe.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2022