Syed Mussarat Khalil

Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — OIC Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir, Ambassador Yousef M. Al-Dobeay, began a five-day visit to Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. He is leading a 6-member delegation, a press release issued by the Pakistani Consulate here said.

The delegation will be briefed on the deteriorating human rights situation in the Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the release said.

The special envoy and his accompanying delegation will visit the Line of Control (LOC) to get first-hand knowledge about the loss of lives and property caused by indiscriminate firing from the Indian side.

The visit is of particular significance in the backdrop of India’s unilateral and illegal actions of Aug. 5 2019, and the strong message on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute contained in the resolutions and communiqués of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers and summit meetings.

The OIC has extended its steadfast support to the Kashmiri people in their just struggle for the inalienable right to self-determination. The organization has a dedicated Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir since 1994.

Since Aug. 5 2019, the OIC has remained actively seized of the deteriorating situation in the Indian side of Jammu and Kashmir. The OIC and its human rights body, Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), have issued several statements condemning India’s actions and reiterating their principled position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. The OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir has met twice since then.

The communiqué issued by the Contact Group’s meeting in New York at the ministerial level reflected OIC’s strong commitment to the Kashmir cause. Under its standing mechanism to monitor human rights situation in IOJ&K, the IPHRC also held an unprecedented ‘Open Discussion’ on the worsening situation in IOJ&K in November 2019.

The Kashmiris and the people of Pakistan value OIC’s role in espousing the cause of Jammu and Kashmir at the international level.