NEW DELHI: Members of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Parliamentary Consultative Committee expressed concern recently over the resolution passed by the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) on Kashmir.
They demanded to know from the Government what steps it had taken to counter the resolution which urges member states to take steps 10 pressurize India to stop the human nights violations by its security forces on the Kashmiris. Pointing out that the Government had already issued a formal statement rejecting the resolution, the two Ministers of State in the Ministry, R.L.Bhatia and Salman Khursheed, said that Indian diplomats had also conveyed through diplomatic channels to the OJC governments that such statements and resolutions were not conducive for good relations between India and the Islamic counties.
The ministers said that several OlC states had informed them that they were keen to maintain their friendly relationship with India and in fact, build on it. They named Libya and Yemen among some of the countries that had displayed this keenness.
The committee members suggested that the Government send some Muslim leaders and ministers on a goodwill mission to the OIC members to impress upon them the implications of the Kashmir problem.
Although the agenda for the meeting was the SAARC Summit and the G15 preparatory meeting, the members were more interested in discussing the diplomatic fallout of the OlC resolution and the recent Statement issued by the United States State Department spelling out the Clinton Administration’s policy on South Asia.
Article extracted from this publication >> May 28, 1993
