advertisement
Following reports of Saudi Arabia agreeing to convene a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on the issue of Kashmir, experts speaking to The Quint suggested that not much needs to be read into the development.
The OIC is a 57-member grouping of Muslim majority nations, including Pakistan.
Earlier during the day, news agency PTI reported state-run Radio Pakistan as saying that the ministerial level OIC meeting was expected to be held in Islamabad in April 2020.
"Pakistan desires an early meeting of the foreign ministers of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation on the human rights violations in Kashmir," he said while talking to the reporters in his home town of Multan.
Qureshi's confirmation came after media reports here said that Saudi Arabia conveyed to Pakistan through its foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan this week that it was planning to convene a meeting on the Kashmir issue.
The foreign minister also said Pakistan had been raising the issue of Kashmir at appropriate forums and accused India of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control.
Reacting to the development, Syed Ata Hasnain, a former GOC of the Army’s 15 Corps, told The Quint that "the meeting is unlikely to be of much consequence since there are yet four months left for the event."
"While Pakistan under pressure of Saudi Arabia pulled out of the Kuala Lumpur summit sponsored by Malaysia and Turkey and held on 18-21 December 2019, it sought sops from the Saudis. The latter clearly not wishing to push too far on an issue which threatened the primacy of the Saudi-led OIC, appears to have relented with acceptance of Kashmir and the CAA as items on the agenda at the meeting," he said.
Speaking on similar lines, Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, a former Consul-General of India in Karachi, termed Saudi's decision as a "placatory move".
"OIC has passed such resolutions earlier as well and it should not be much of a concern for India. In fact Saudi Arabia has promised big ticket investments in India," he also said.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)