Manipulated by Pakistan, OIC issued absurd statement on Pahalgam attack: India

Jaiswal said OIC issued its statement at Pakistan’s behest, and its position was “absurd” in refusing to recognise the facts of the Pahalgam terrorist attack

NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday rejected the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) stance on linking the Pahalgam terror attack to the Kashmir issue and said it is “absurd” that the 57-member grouping was refusing to acknowledge the “cross-border linkages” of the incident.

Security personnel stand guard on the banks of Dal Lake, following a terrorist attack near south Kashmir's Pahalgam in Srinagar. (REUTERS)

The OIC had expressed deep concern at the “deteriorating security situation” in South Asia and called for restraint, while contending that the “unresolved” Kashmir issue was the “core challenge to lasting peace” in the region.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the OIC had issued its statement “at the behest of Pakistan”, and its position was “absurd in refusing to recognise the facts of the Pahalgam terrorist attack and its cross-border linkages”.

He added, “This is yet another attempt by Pakistan, a country that has long engaged in cross-border terrorism, to manipulate and misguide the OIC group to issue a self-serving statement.

“We reject the OIC’s interference on matters that are internal to India.”

The OIC, in the statement issued on May 2, had expressed “deep concern over the deteriorating security situation in the South Asian region and called for restraint and the urgent resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan”.

While condemning all forms of terrorism, the OIC reiterated its “support for the Jammu and Kashmir question” and called on the world community to “intensify efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute”.