Pak elected OIC body's deputy chairman

Pakistan has been elected as the deputy chairman of the general body of the Parliamentary Union of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an influential grouping of 57 countries, majority of which are Muslim-dominated.

According to an official announcement, Pakistan was elected deputy chairman of the general body of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC member States (PUIC) on Monday in Rabat, Morocco, the Dawn newspaper reported.

The PUIC is composed of parliaments of member states of the OIC and was established in Iran on June 17, 1999, with its head office situated in Tehran.

The PUIC conference also adopted two resolutions presented by Pakistan related to Kashmir.

The election of Pakistan to the forum comes after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj attended the inaugural plenary of the 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the OIC in Abu Dhabi on March 1. She was the first Indian minister to address the OIC meeting.

India's participation came despite strong demand by Pakistan to rescind the invitation to Swaraj to address the grouping which was turned down by the host UAE, resulting in Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi boycotting the plenary.