ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi would not attend the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Summit being held in Abu Dhabi as a token protest against the invitation extended to the Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj, the Dispatch News Desk (DND) news agency reported.
While addressing the Joint Session of the Parliament in Islamabad on Friday, the foreign minister said that he will not participate in OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers meeting in Abu Dhabi.
However, he added that a lower level Pakistani delegation will attend the Summit in order to present Pakistan’s 19 resolutions that also include the human rights violations and persecution of Kashmiris in Indian Occupied Kashmir (OIC).
Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the delegation will also staunchly oppose any move to grant observer status to India at the OIC.
The foreign minister said that India is neither a member of the organization nor it has any observer status to the group.
The foreign minister said that he conveyed the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to review the decision of inviting Sushma Swaraj at the OIC Session or adjourn the meeting.
Qureshi told that that the OIC Secretary General Dr Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen told that Sushma Swaraj was invited before the Pulwama incident.
The foreign minister further said that the UAE has always supported us through hard times.
