Prime Minister Imran Khan extended greetings and welcomed the foreign ministers and delegations from OIC member states who started reaching Islamabad for the two-day moot set to begin from Tuesday.
The premier, in a tweet, said that the people of Pakistan were honoured with the presence of the dignitaries in the federal capital.
“Under overarching theme of unity, justice and development the OIC-CFM will have wide-ranging deliberations,” he said.
Foreign ministers and high-level dignitaries from OIC Member and observer states, attending the 48th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, will also witness the Pakistan Day Parade on March 23 as guests of honour.
China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi will attend as a special guest while officials from non-OIC countries, senior representatives from the United Nations, regional and international organisations, including the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council will also participate.
Prime Minister Imran Khan will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural session while Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will chair the Council of Foreign Ministers.
The OIC Council of Foreign Ministers’ conference assumes special significance given the backdrop of opportunities and challenges before the Muslim world in the political, security, social and economic spheres.
Apart from an appraisal of the global and regional landscapes, the conference will reaffirm the long- standing solidarity and support of its members with the people of Palestine and Jammu and Kashmir.
It will reiterate its resolve to combat rising Islamophobia, and discuss strategies to counter the effects of climate change, vaccine inequity and erosion in progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
The conference will review and assess the grave human rights and humanitarian situation in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The ministerial meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir will also take place on the sidelines of the conference.
The ministerial meeting will take stock of the decisions taken at the Extraordinary Session of the OIC-CFM held in Islamabad in December last year to address the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.
Agenda
FM Qureshi said the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, during its session in Islamabad, will discuss the challenges faced by Muslim Ummah, including the issues of Palestine and Kashmir.
Speaking during his visit to the Parliament House in Islamabad to see the arrangements for the meeting, he said it is a great honour for Pakistan to host the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers conference after holding the extraordinary session of the OIC ministers last time.
The minister said all arrangements have been made to host the OIC delegates led by foreign ministers.
He said as a founding member, Pakistan wants a strengthened platform of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
He said under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan effectively raised the issue of Islamophobia and a resolution was adopted in the United Nations in this regard.
Security
Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed while regretting over Bilawal Bhutto’s statement about forthcoming OIC’s Foreign Ministers Summit has reaffirmed that no one would be allowed to disrupt the OIC Conference.
“The National Assembly had adopted a resolution on January 21 to hand over the House to Foreign Office for holding OIC Conference,” he added.
He said only agents of imperialistic forces could think to sabotage the OIC conference.
He said outer security of Parliament House, Parliament Lodges and Members National Assembly’s (MNA) hostels had been handed over to the Rangers and FC till April 2.
