ISLAMABAD, July 27: Pakistan has been chosen to lead the OIC group at the United Nations offices in Geneva for one year, a message received here from Geneva on Wednesday said.
After taking over the position from Ambassador Turkekul Kurttekin of Turkey Ambassador Masood Khan said that the Islamic world was facing internal and external challenges and it would be his endeavour to engage all UN organizations and reach out to all regional groups.
“Internally we have to contain extremism and move towards moderation. Externally we have to close our ranks, develop a credible metaphor for the image of Islam and bridge gaps of misunderstanding through dialogue with other nations and civilizations,” he said.
Mr Khan said the essence of Islam was peace, tolerance and co-existence. “The OIC can be the most powerful vehicle to put across this message,” he added.
The OIC ambassadors attending the change-over meeting appreciated Pakistan’s contribution in projecting and promoting the interests of the Muslim world in the deliberations of the international organizations in Geneva.
The ambassadors also discussed the agenda of the OIC group for meeting the challenges in the coming years. They emphasized the need for the OIC to engage with the outside world and agreed that dialogue, discourse and moderation were the best means to attain international peace, harmony and security.
They stressed greater visibility of the OIC in the UN system to ensure that Muslim countries’ message was appropriately transmitted and properly understood. They indicated that this required skilful coordination of the OIC groups in Geneva, New York and other capitals in liaison with the OIC General Secretariat in Jeddah.
Mr Khan assured the group that Pakistan would continue to discharge its responsibilities as the OIC Coordinator on Human Rights and Humanitarian Issues.
The OIC group condemned recent terrorist attacks in London and Egypt and offered their condolences to the victims. The meeting also expressed sympathies over the train accident in Ghotki.