by: Noorulhassan Jeddah
Pakistan Welcomes OIC Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir visit to Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) from 11-14 October 2023
The Government of Pakistan is hosting the OIC Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir Ambassador Yousef Aldobeay along with his three-member delegation for a visit to Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) from 11-14 October 2023. The Permanent Representative of Pakistan to OIC, Ambassador Fawad Sher, briefed the Special Envoy today on the outline of the visit and also the alarmingly precarious situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).
During the three-day visit, the Special Envoy will hold meetings with the Pakistani and Kashmiri leadership, interact with the true representatives of the Kashmiri people, and deliver talks at think tanks. The Special Envoy will also conduct a visit to the Line of Control (LoC). At the LoC, he would meet the refugees from IIOJK and victims of cross-LoC Indian shelling to assess the gravity of the situation by listening to their experiences first-hand.
The Special Envoy’s visit to the AJK was mandated by the OIC Plan of Action (POA) on Jammu and Kashmir adopted by the 48th Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) in Islamabad in March 2022. The POA envisaged the OIC Special Envoy’s visits to Jammu and Kashmir enabling him to take stock of the situation on the ground and report upon his observations to the CFM. The Special Envoy earlier visited Pakistan and AJK in March 2020 and November 2021. Comprehensive reports on these visits were presented before the 47th and 48th CFMs.
This year marks the fourth anniversary of the imposition of India’s unlawful actions of 5th August 2019 which aimed at effectuating demographic changes, electoral gerrymandering, and dispossessing the Kashmiris of their distinct cultural and ethnic identity.
The OIC Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir has played an important leadership role in articulating the OIC’s unequivocal position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and in highlighting Indian occupation forces’ gross violations of human rights in the IIOJK. This year, the Special Envoy’s visit carries greater significance in the wake of the upcoming OIC Islamic Summit in Gambia in December. The Special Envoy’s observations from this visit would be reflected in his report submitted before the Summit.
The OIC Special Envoy for Jammu and Kashmir’s visit is a testament to OIC’s unwavering commitment to upholding the inalienable right of self-determination of the Kashmiris. It also bears witness to Pakistan’s firm commitment to highlighting the plight and the relentless persecution of the Kashmiris at the hands of the Indian occupation forces at every forum.
