ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Tuesday urged the Islamic countries and China to play role in resolving the Ukraine crisis.
Addressing the 48th session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad on Tuesday, he said the Muslim countries should not drag themselves into bloc politics and rather show their power for bringing peace in the world.
Showing concern over the simmering Ukrainian conflict, the prime minister said the OIC, China and all the non-partisan countries should use their influence to resolve the dispute and bring an end to the war that has displaced millions of people.
Welcoming the guests, PM Imran said, “people of Pakistan are overjoyed on this special occasion as we are also celebrating our 75th anniversary this year.”
“I especially congratulate our OIC members because of a landmark resolution passed by the UN to mark March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia which is the day when a gunman attacked mosques in Christchurch.”
Holding the leadership of Muslim states responsible for the spread of Islamophobia across the world, the PM said that a false narrative was established after the 9/11 tragedy that Muslims are terrorists.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t do anything to check this wrong narrative of Islamophobia and resultantly, the man in the street in the West came to believe this.”
He said that Muslims were wrongly linked with terrorism by the world.
“One of the ideas of OIC is to protect Islamic values,” PM Imran Khan said.
He said that he believed that Islamic values have never been under threat as they are right now.
The premier said that when he became the prime minister of Pakistan he asked the police chief about the crime chart.
“I was amazed to see that the sex crimes, child abuse and rape are the fastest growing crime in this country.”
He said that Pakistan has an increased divorce rate, rising vulgarity, which is because the more society gets permissive, it has a direct impact on the family system.
He said that one of the most important things about Islam is that it protects the family system, it has values like respecting parents and teachers.
“But [with] the culture that is coming through social media, we really need to think how we are going to protect our generations,” PM Imran Khan said.
Raising the Kashmir issue, the premier regretted that the Muslim Ummah has failed to make an impact for the resolution of Kashmir and Palestine disputes.
“Given our divisions, the oppressors do not take us seriously,” he said, pointing out that regardless of our huge population bulge of 1.5 billion Muslims, our voice, unfortunately, has not been able to stop the blatant injustices against Kashmiris and Palestinians.
PM Khan said the UN resolutions back the right of self-determination of Kashmiri and Palestinian people.
He further added that the international community promised the Kashmiris to decide their future, regretting that the special status was also taken away illegally by India on August 5, 2019.
The premier said India is also changing the demographic structure of the occupied territory in complete contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention. He said India is doing so by bringing settlers from outside.
Regarding Afghanistan, PM Imran Khan said: “A stable Afghan government is the only way to stop international terrorism emanating from their soil.”
He urged the international community to help the Afghan people in sorting out their issues.
Earlier, in his address, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said it was time for the Muslim Ummah to stay united and forge a collective response to the current turmoil inside its borders and the ongoing global transition.
“We must be a reliable partner in forging unity, justice, and development across the globe, but not anyone’s accomplice in aggression or domination,” he said.
The foreign minister said the time had come for the body to strengthen and equip itself to address contemporary challenges and conflicts confronting the Muslim Ummah.
He mentioned that the Muslim world was facing conflicts in the Middle East, prolonged foreign occupation, and the denial of the right to self-determination, most notably to the people of Palestine and Kashmir.
“The Muslim world’s resentment is increasing due to frequent external interventions in Muslim countries,” he said.
He pointed out that left unaddressed, these conflicts and disputes undermined the unity and solidarity of OIC countries, exposed the countries to foreign interference and intervention, fuelled terrorism and extremism, and deflected attention from development goals.
The FM encouraged the efforts of the Afghan authorities to eliminate Daesh (IS-K) and stressed effective strategies needed to deal with other terrorist groups in Afghanistan like TTP, ETIM, IMU, and Al-Qaida.
“We must guard against spoilers that wish to continue destabilising Afghanistan and using its territory to promote terrorism,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the conference would strengthen itself by developing and deploying tools for conflict prevention, mediation, reconciliation and peace-building.
More than 100 resolutions will be considered during the two-day session of the OIC conference.
The summit will also discuss developments in Afghanistan and their humanitarian consequences for the Afghan people and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Many African issues will also be on the summit’s agenda, including the situation in Mali, the Sahel region, and Lake Chad, and the situation in Central Africa and the Republic of Guinea.
The OIC foreign ministers will also discuss developments in Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, and other regions during the summit.
Pakistan has a proud history of hosting major OIC events including Summits and Council of Foreign Minister (CFM) meetings.
The country hosted the 2nd OIC Summit in Lahore, in February 1974. An Extraordinary OIC Summit was held in Islamabad in 1997, on the occasion of Pakistan’s Golden Jubilee.
Pakistan also hosted the OIC CFMs on four occasions, 2nd Session in December 1970, 11th Session in May 1980, 21st Session in April 1993 and the 34th Session in May 2007.
The 1st and the 17th Extraordinary Sessions of the OIC CFM, were held in Islamabad, in January 1980 and December 2021, respectively.
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