NEW DELHI: India on Monday rubbished references to last month’s military clashes with Pakistan and the status of Jammu and Kashmir in a statement issued by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and accused Pakistan of turning “terrorism into statecraft” and misusing the grouping for narrow political ends.
The external affairs ministry’s response came a day after a meeting of OIC foreign ministers in Istanbul, Turkiye, expressed solidarity with Pakistan following what it said were India’s “unjustified” military strikes last month and called for adherence to bilateral agreements such as the Indus Waters Treaty. A declaration adopted at the OIC meeting also backed the right to self-determination for the people of Jammu and Kashmir.
The external affairs ministry rejected the “unwarranted and factually incorrect references” to India at the OIC meeting and said such “statements, driven by Pakistan, which has turned terrorism into statecraft, reflect the continued misuse of the OIC platform for narrow political ends”.
While rejecting Pakistan’s baseless allegation of “unprovoked and unjustified military aggression”, the external affairs ministry said in a statement that India’s Operation Sindoor was conducted in response to the Pahalgam terror attack on April 22 and was a “precise and legitimate act of self-defence against terrorist camps operating from Pakistani territory”.
“It is absurd for Pakistan to speak of targeting only Indian military installations when its retaliatory attempts not only failed but recklessly endangered civilian lives and property and ended up causing several deaths and injuries among the civilian population,” the ministry said.
{{/usCountry}}“It is absurd for Pakistan to speak of targeting only Indian military installations when its retaliatory attempts not only failed but recklessly endangered civilian lives and property and ended up causing several deaths and injuries among the civilian population,” the ministry said.
{{/usCountry}}Following the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 civilians, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7 to target terrorist infrastructure at nine locations in territories controlled by Pakistan. Islamabad retaliated with strikes on Indian military installations, triggering four days of clashes that ended when the two sides reached an understanding on halting military actions on May 10.
A day after the Pahalgam attack, India also unveiled a slew of diplomatic and economic punitive measures, including the suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty.
The Indian side also highlighted the OIC’s “repeated failure to acknowledge the real and documented threat of terrorism emanating from Pakistan”, including the heinous attack at Pahalgam, and said this “reflects a wilful disregard for facts and the global consensus on the fight against terrorism”.
“The OIC has no locus standi to comment on India’s internal affairs, including Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral and sovereign part of India - a fact enshrined in the Indian Constitution and irreversibly settled,” the external affairs ministry said.
“The OIC should reflect deeply on the perils of allowing Pakistan’s propaganda to hijack and politicise its agenda. Any other course can only undermine the OIC’s credibility and relevance,” it said.
The statement noted that comments made by Pakistan at the OIC meeting are “nothing more than a desperate attempt to deflect international attention from its own appalling record of state-sponsored terrorism, minority persecution and sectarian violence, apart from failure of governance”.
It added, “It is also ironic that Pakistan, a country with an abysmal human rights record and a history of sheltering, breeding and empowering terrorists, should lecture others on counter-terrorism and human rights.”
The declaration adopted at the OIC foreign ministers meeting called for adherence to bilateral agreements, including Indus Waters Treaty, and a dialogue for peaceful settlement of all outstanding disputes between Pakistan and India. Besides expressing solidarity with the government of Pakistan, it expressed concern at the “military escalation” in South Asia, “including the unjustified strikes carried out on multiple locations” in Pakistan and called for maximum restraint and avoiding actions that would destabilise the region.