India rejects OIC's resolution featuring J-K

NEW DELHI: India on Monday strongly trashed an Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) resolution on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, and said the grouping has allowed itself to be "misused" by Pakistan for its "bigoted agenda".

New Delhi, in a strong reaction, said the references to India by the OIC are "malicious, biased and false, and have been orchestrated by Pakistan".

"We categorically reject the anti-India references in the resolutions of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers' Meeting held in Baghdad on October 17-18," the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

"The references to India are malicious, biased and false, and have been orchestrated by Pakistan. We are disappointed that the OIC has once again allowed itself to be misused by Pakistan for its bigoted agenda," it said.

The MEA said the OIC has "no locus standi whatsoever" to comment on matters that are strictly internal to India.

"The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral and inalienable parts of India. Politically motivated propaganda can never alter this reality.

"Over the past years since the abrogation of Art 370, Jammu and Kashmir has seen significant economic growth and benefits accruing directly to its people through infrastructure development, tourism and connectivity," it said.

This, the MEA said, is in "stark contrast" to the situation in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir where Islamabad has "unleashed violence, repression and brutality on civilian protesters, killing scores of them, including women and children."

The MEA said that "no amount of media blackout has been able to hide these grave violations of human rights".

"The only issues related to Jammu and Kashmir that remain to be addressed are Pakistan vacating from areas under its illegal and forcible occupation and ceasing its continued support to cross-border terrorism," it said in a statement.

The MEA described other "fabricated and hostile references against India in the OIC resolutions including insinuations related to Islamophobia" as nothing but a "desperate attempt by Pakistan to divert international attention from its own appalling record of minority persecution and sectarian violence".

"The OIC's repeated endorsement of patently malicious propaganda and narratives peddled by Pakistan raises serious questions about its credibility and integrity. We hope its members would do better and reform this organisation," it added.