48th Session of Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC beginning in Islamabad tomorrow

Islamabad: The 48th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation is beginning in Islamabad tomorrow (Tuesday).

The thematic focus of the two-day Ministerial Conference is on ‘Partnering for Unity, Justice, and Development'.

Foreign Ministers and high-level dignitaries from OIC Member and Observer States, attending the session, will also witness the Pakistan Day Parade on 23 March as Guests of Honour.

China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi will attend as a Special Guest. Senior officials from non-OIC countries, senior representatives from the United Nations, regional and international organizations, including the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council will also participate.

Prime Minister Imran Khan will deliver the keynote address at the Inaugural Session (Tuesday).

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will chair the Council of Foreign Ministers.

The OIC Council of Foreign Ministers' conference assumes special significance given the backdrop of opportunities and challenges before the Muslim world in the political, security, social, and economic spheres.

Apart from an appraisal of the global and regional landscapes, the conference will inter alia reaffirm the long-standing solidarity and support of its members with the people of Palestine and Jammu, and Kashmir.

It will reiterate its resolve to combat rising Islamophobia, and discuss strategies to counter the effects of climate change, vaccine inequity, and erosion in progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Conference will review and assess the grave human rights and humanitarian situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The Ministerial meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir will also take place on the sidelines of the conference.

The Ministerial meeting will take stock of the decisions taken at the Extraordinary Session of the OIC-CFM held in Islamabad in December last year to address the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.