FM Qureshi urges OIC to raise its voice against Islamophobia

NIAMEY: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday urged the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to raise its voice against Islamophobia ahead of the OIC's Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting on November 27.

FM Qureshi, leading the Pakistani delegation, landed in Niger on Thursday following which he had a meeting with the OIC Secretary-General Yousef Bin Ahmad Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Othaimeen.

Talking about Muslims around the world, he said that the community has been deeply concerned about the rising trend of Islamophobia.

"The OIC should send a message to discourage Islamophobia," the foreign minister urged.

Moreover, FM Qureshi said that India's Hindutva ideology is a threat to the security of the South Asian region.

During the talks, Qureshi expressed concerns over the serious human rights violations being committed in the Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOJK).

"India aims to change the population ratio in occupied Jammu and Kashmir," the foreign minister informed Othaimeen.

The 47th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation will start on Friday in Niamey, Niger.

This two-day session — from November 27-28 — has been long awaited by Pakistan, which had earlier called for an Emergency Session of the CFM to take up the draconian decision of India in which it revoked the special status of the IOJK.

Representatives of 57 OIC member states and five observer states are expected to attend the meeting.

Aside from the moot, the FM is expected to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts and heads of delegations of member states.