Press Release
Roundtable “Resolution of the Kashmir Dispute: Imperative for a Lasting Peace in South Asia”
December 12, 2022
Permanent Representatives of the member states of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir visited the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad (ISSI) for a roundtable discussion titled “Resolution of the Kashmir Dispute: Imperative for a Lasting Peace in South Asia” on December 12, 2022. The members of the delegation included Ambassador Shahin Abdullayev, Ambassador Dr. Saleh Hamad A. Alsuhaibani, Permanent Representative of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the OIC, Ambassador Mehmet Metin Eker, Permanent Representative of Turkey to the OIC, Ambassador Dieye Ali, Permanent Representative of Niger to the OIC, Ambassador Rizwan Saeed Sheikh, Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the OIC, Mr. Sajid Ullah Assistant Director (Economic Diplomacy) Ministry of Foreign affairs, Islamabad, Dr. Talha Jamil, Assistant Director (OIC) Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad. The participants for the discussion included Mr. Altaf Wani, Chairman, Kashmir Institute of International Relations, Justice Ali Nawaz Chowhan, former Chief Justice of Gambia and elected international Judge of the United Nations, Dr. Asma Khawaja, Executive Director at the Centre for International Strategic Studies, AJ&K, Dr. Waleed Rasul, Director General, Institute of Multi-Track Dialogue and Mr. Faiz Naqashbandi, Convener, All Parties Hurriyat Conference Islamabad. The OIC delegation and the guests were warmly welcomed by Director India Study Centre at ISSI Dr. Arshad Ali. In his introductory remarks, Dr. Arshad highlighted that the BJP government has adopted a strategy to politically marginalize and disempower the minority groups in India, especially the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The members of the OIC contact group were informed about the existing human rights situation in the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The delegation was briefed in depth about the policy that Prime Minister Modi has adopted towards the occupied Kashmir which is based on excessive use of power to silence any dissenting voice. Taking a clue from Israel’s experience, India is also working to change the demography of the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir to turn the Muslim majority into a minority. The participants urged the OIC that being the voice of oppressed Kashmiri Muslims, it needs to chalk out a plan to stop India from committing heinous crimes against the hapless people of Kashmir.
Certain suggestions and recommendations were also floated by the participants that included; invoking the United Nations principle of Responsibility to Protect and increasing the cost of conflict for India in terms of economic boycotts.
Towards the end of the discussion Chairman Board of Governors ISSI, Ambassador Khalid Mahmood said that the UN has given a very clear solution to the Kashmir conflict which is a plebiscite under UN auspices to determine the will of the Kashmiri people. This solution was accepted by both India and Pakistan but unfortunately, India later backtracked. He said that there is a need to raise awareness about this issue across the world. He also thanked OIC for keeping the Kashmir issue alive.
