Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Friday boycotted the 46th session of the Council of Foreign Minister of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which is being held in Abu Dhabi, after UAE refused to rescind the invitation extended to India.
“I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj”, said Qureshi while speaking in a joint session of Parliament in Islamabad.
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Mentioning that the ‘UAE has always helped Pakistan in difficult times’, Qureshi noted with regret that despite Pakistan’s protest, the OIC’s invitation to Swaraj was not rescinded.
“There was no consultation over OIC invitation to Indian foreign minister. India is neither a member nor an observer of the OIC,” Qureshi pointed out, adding that he sent two letters – the latest only yesterday – to the UAE calling upon the body to withdraw its invitation to the Indian foreign minister.
However, a lower-level delegation from Pakistan will attend the OIC session in order to present Pakistan’s 19 resolutions, as per Qureshi.
The 46th session of the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers is being hosted by the UAE in Abu Dhabi on March 1 and March 2, under the title ’50 Years of Islamic Cooperation: Road Map for Prosperity and Development’.
EAM Sushma Swaraj is invited as the ‘Guest of Honour’ to the event and this is the first time India has been invited by the group.
Other states such as Russia and Thailand are also present at the OIC meet, which have a significant minority of Muslim population and are present as the ‘observer states’.