On Monday, the Indian envoy to Saudi Arabia and the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen, met in a rare development.
As described in a release by the body, the meeting took place at the OIC bureau in Jeddah as a ‘courtesy visit.’
According to a release from the OIC, Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen ‘expressed the wish…to dispatch a delegation’ to Kashmir and called for a ‘possibility of meeting between Pakistan and India’, for which the body stands ‘ready to assist if the two parties would so request.’
As New Delhi and Islamabad engage in back-channel diplomacy, the OIC calls for a meeting. Although recent incidents have cast a shadow on the positive developments, including a drone attack in Jammu and an Indian mission in Islamabad breached by a drone.
India last met with the OIC in 2019 when the former Indian EAM Sushma Swaraj was invited as the ‘guest of honour’ at the OIC meeting.
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For the OIC annual FMs meeting that took place in Abu Dhabi, the UAE extended the invitation. Islamabad, which views the grouping as its sphere of influence, wasn’t thrilled about the development.
India and the OIC do not have a very positive relationship, with India hitting out at the body a number of times for raising the Kashmir issue. The body has often raked Kashmir at the request of Pakistan, irking New Delhi.
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