DESPARDES News Monitor — The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has appointed Saudi Arabia’s Yousef Aldobeay as its special envoy on Jammu and Kashmir, reiterating its support for the legitimate right to self-determination of the Kashmiri people in accordance with UN resolutions.
The Saudi Foreign Office said the summit communique called for expediting the establishment of a UN commission of inquiry to investigate grave human rights violations and urged India to allow the commission and other international organizations access to Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).
The conference commended the report of OIC’s Human Rights Commission, highlighting rights abuses in IOK. It welcomed Pakistan’s offer to host the 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad in 2021.
The OIC meeting, the third and final summit hosted by Saudi Arabia in Makkah this week, condemned a ‘terrorist attack’ on Saudi Arabia’s oil pumping stations which targeted global oil supplies, according to its communique.
The 14th OIC summit in the holy city also threw its support behind the Palestinians ahead of a US-led peace plan suspected to be skewed in favor of Israel.
The conference also called for the adoption of a comprehensive strategy to combat Islamophobia, building on proposals made by Pakistan in the OIC Ministerial Executive Committee meeting in March 2019. It commended Pakistan for its generosity and hospitality for hosting Afghan refugees.
The conference commended the role of the OIC Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific & Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH), under the chairmanship of the President of Pakistan and encouraged member states for early operationalization of the OIC Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) agenda 2026.
Earlier, addressing the Muslim leaders, King Salman warned that ‘terrorist’ attacks in the Gulf region could imperil global energy supplies. “We confirm that terrorist actions not only target the kingdom and the Gulf region but also target the safety of navigation and world oil supplies.”
The OIC refused to accept any proposal for a peaceful settlement that did not accord with Palestinians’ legitimate inalienable rights. It urged member countries to take ‘appropriate measures’ against countries that move their embassies to Jerusalem. The summit called for a ‘boycott’ of the countries that have opened diplomatic missions in the city and stressed the importance of amassing support for the budget of the Palestinian government to continue its work.
The member states expressed concern over growing Islamophobia in many parts of the world. Islamophobia “as a contemporary form of racism and religious discrimination continues to grow … as evident by the increase in incidents of religious intolerance, negative stereotyping, and hatred and violence against Muslims”, it added.
The summit also condemned the inhumane situation of Rohingyas, urging a halt to violence. It also stressed that Myanmar’s government has the responsibility to protect its citizens. It urged the US to remove Sudan from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was notably absent from the OIC summit. Turkey was instead represented by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu. Iran’s President Hassan Rowhani was also not present but sent a representative to the summit.
This is the third meeting of Arab leaders the king has held in Makkah this week. On Friday, King Salman convened emergency summits of Gulf and then Arab leaders to discuss drone strikes on Saudi oil installations and attacks on four vessels, including two Saudi oil tankers, off the UAE coast in May.
