‘At behest of serial violator’: India rejects OIC’s new statement on Kashmir

India on Wednesday rejected the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) call for the Kashmir issue to be resolved in line with UN Security Council resolutions, saying such statements only undermine the credibility of the 57-member grouping.

Without specifically naming any country, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the OIC is acting at the “behest of a serial violater of human rights and an unrepentant promoter of cross-border terrorism”. The remarks were an apparent reference to Pakistan, which India has often accused of raking up the Kashmir issue at the OIC.

Responding to a statement issued by OIC following the Supreme Court’s verdict on Monday that endorsed the Indian government’s August 2019 decision to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, Bagchi said: “India rejects the statement issued by the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on a judgement of the Indian Supreme Court. It is both ill informed and ill intended.”

He added, “That OIC does so at the behest of a serial violater of human rights and an unrepentant promoter of cross-border terrorism makes its action even more questionable. Such statements only undermine OIC’s credibility.”

On Tuesday, the OIC expressed concern over the Supreme Court’s verdict upholding what it described as “unilateral actions” taken by India in August 2019. The General Secretariat of the OIC also reiterated its call to “reverse all illegal and unilateral measures taken since 5 August 2019 aimed at changing the internationally recognised disputed status” of Kashmir.

It also reaffirmed solidarity with the people of Jammu and Kashmir “in their quest for the right of self-determination” and called on the world community to enhance its efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue in accordance with relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.

India has said in the past that Jammu and Kashmir, which was divided into two union territories after the abrogation of the region’s special status, is an integral part of the country and other nations have no say in the matter.