The Foreign Office (FO) on Saturday hailed the adoption of a Pakistan-sponsored resolution by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on measures to combat Islamophobia.

Titled “Measures to Combat Islamophobia”, the FO said the resolution was presented by Pakistan on behalf of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as a follow-up of the General Assembly Resolution 76/254, which designated March 15 as the International Day to combat Islamophobia, and passed by an “overwhelming majority” of 115 votes to 44 abstentions.

India and Israel abstained while China, the United States and Russia voted in favour.

“The General Assembly has condemned the incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence against Muslims as manifested in the increasing number of incidents of desecration of the Holy Quran, attacks on mosques, sites and shrines and other acts of religious intolerance, negative stereotyping, hatred and violence against Muslims,” the FO said.

“The General assembly has also called upon the member states to take legislative and policy measures to combat religious intolerance, negative stereotyping, hatred, incitement to violence and violence against Muslims.”

It also welcomed the appointment of a UN special envoy to combat Islamophobia, saying the “historic appointment” would be the first of its kind, “exclusively dedicated to combating the scourge of Islamophobia”.

The FO pointed out that the adoption of the resolution came at a critical time, amidst rising Islamophobia, as manifested by an increasing number of incidents of discrimination, violence, and incitement against Muslims around the world.