OIC wants peaceful resolution of Kashmir issue: Official

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is concerned over the situation in Kashmir and wants a peaceful settlement of the issue, a top official said on Saturday.

OIC Secretary General's Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir Yousef M Al Dobeay said the resolution of Kashmir and Palestine issues remained on the organisation's top-most agenda, Pakistan Foreign Office quoted the envoy as saying in a statement.

Dobeay, who led a six-member delegation on a five-day visit to Pakistan, said the OIC was concerned about the situation in Kashmir.

The envoy said Jammu and Kashmir was an "internationally recognised" dispute and called for its peaceful settlement.

"The OIC will take all necessary steps to alleviate the sufferings of the Kashmiris and help resolve the dispute according to the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir," he said.

During the visit, the envoy called on Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and held meetings with the other top ministers. During the meetings, the Pakistani leadership apprised the delegation of the situation in Kashmir.

The delegation also held meetings with the top leadership of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and visited the Line of Control (LoC) as well as a refugee camp in Muzaffarabad.

This was the first visit of Dobeay to Pakistan and the PoK after his appointment as the OIC Secretary General's Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir during the 14th Summit of the OIC in Makkah in May 2019.

The OIC is a 57-member grouping of Muslim majority nations, including Pakistan. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue.

Pakistan has been unsuccessfully trying to drum up international support against India for withdrawing Jammu and Kashmir's special status on August 5 and bifurcating it into two Union territories.

India has categorically told the international community that the scrapping of Article 370 was its internal matter. It also advised Pakistan to accept the reality and stop all anti-India propaganda.