OIC secretary-general arrives Islamabad 

Islamabad: Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Hissein Brahim Taha on Saturday arrived in Pakistan on a three-day visit.

Taking place at the invitation of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, this is his first country visit since assuming office in November 2021.

At the airport, he was received by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to OIC Rizwan Saeed Sheikh and Director General OIC Farrukh Iqbal Khan.

During the visit, the OIC chief would hold a meeting with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and hold talks with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Accompanied by a five-member delegation, Hissein Brahim Taha will also visit Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

The meetings with ministers for Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan Affairs, information technology, and commerce is also on his agenda.

The Foreign Office said that during bilateral talks, the OIC secretary-general and the foreign minister would discuss inter alia issues on the agenda of OIC including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, Islamophobia, and the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

In the 48th session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) held in Islamabad in March this year, the Muslim world body had adopted a joint action plan on Kashmir issue.

Under the plan, the OIC countries agreed to raise the Kashmir issue in their bilateral engagements with India and underscore respect for the fundamental human rights of the Kashmiri people.

The OIC in a strongly worded statement condemned the Indian illegal move in IIOJK which is an internationally accepted disputed territory. The “delimitation” exercises are in direct contravention of the relevant UN Security Council resolutions and international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention.