ISLAMABAD, May 15: Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir Sardar Attique Ahmad Khan has called for making the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

Speaking at a news briefing here, he said the Islamic countries had a right to have an effective role in the Security Council.

He said the AJK government was considering a proposal to establish an ‘OIC Town’ in AJK, to create awareness of the role of Muslim countries in the rehabilitation of the earthquake- hit areas.

He said he had presented a proposal for setting up an office of the Islamic Development Bank in the AJK, during his meeting with the president of the Bank in Saudi Arabia.

He acknowledged the role of the OIC on Kashmir and said the organisation had been supporting Pakistan’s viewpoint.

He welcomed the holding of the important moot of Foreign Ministers of the OIC in Islamabad at a very crucial phase in history.

Among a spate of issues confronting the Muslim Ummah today, in particular and the world in general, the dispute of Jammu and Kashmir constituted a core issue.

He said the dispute arose out of the fact that the people of Kashmir had not been given the opportunity to decide their future as promised to them by the UN.

The unresolved dispute has left the region immersed in many more grave issues —continued human rights violations, operation of repressive laws and subjugation of masses in the Indian- occupied parts of Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that the just cause of Kashmiris deserved support of all world organizations believing in the supremacy of human values and rights. The OIC has been supportive of this just struggle.

He pointed out that in the Contact Group on Kashmir meeting of OIC Foreign Ministers at the UN headquarters last year, lent moral, political and diplomatic support to the Kashmir cause by upholding the 10-point proposals, including termination of repression, release of detenues, withdrawal of the Indian army from towns, end to human rights violations and expanding intra Kashmir contacts, trade and tourism.

The appointment of Ambassador Ezzat Kame Mufti as Special Envoy of the OIC secretary general on Kashmir was a another step in this direction. In pursuance of OIC’s mandate, Mr Mufti’s recent visit to Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir had a salutary impact.

Sardar Khan said the people of Kashmir were not averse to a peacefully negotiated settlement of the dispute that inflames regional relations. In fact, the Kashmiris themselves wish to contribute towards efforts for building a lasting peace in South Asia.