NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday condemned a visit to Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoK) by the secretary general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), saying such “interference and meddling” in the country’s internal affairs is unacceptable.
Hissein Brahim Taha, the OIC secretary general, and his delegation travelled to PoK on December 11 to take stock of the situation and to meet the people and senior officials of the region. Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry, the “president” of PoK, was among the officials who met Taha, a politician and diplomat from Chad.
Referring to Taha’s visit to PoK, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “We strongly condemn the visit of OIC Secretary General to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and his comments on J&K during his visit to Pakistan.”
Bagchi added, “Let me reiterate that OIC has no locus standi in matters related to J&K, which is an integral and inalienable part of India. Any attempt of interference and meddling in India’s internal affairs by OIC and its Secretary General is completely unacceptable.”
The spokesperson contended that the OIC has “already lost its credibility by taking a blatantly communal, partisan and factually incorrect approach to issues”, and that the 57-member organisation’s secretary general “has unfortunately become a mouth-piece of Pakistan”.
Bagchi further said: “We hope that he [Taha] would refrain from becoming a partner in carrying out the nefarious agenda of Pakistan of promoting cross border terrorism into India, especially in J&K.”
India has traditionally opposed visits by OIC officials or foreign diplomats to PoK and references to the issue by them. In October, India protested to the US over a visit to PoK by the American ambassador in Islamabad, whose repeatedly references to the region as “Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)” did not go down well in New Delhi.
Taha met both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari during his visit to Pakistan. At his meeting with Taha, Sharif appreciated “OIC’s principled position and consistent support for the resolution” of the Jammu and Kashmir issue in line with UN Security Council resolutions. Sharif had also appreciated Taha’s visit to PoK and the Line of Control (LoC).
