India Rejects Discussion of Kashmir Issue at OIC Meeting

New York [USA], Sep 27 (ANI): India has rejected references made by Pakistan on the Kashmir issue in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting as the matter is internal to India, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Wednesday (local time).

"As far as OIC is concerned, we always note with regret that the matter, which is very internal to Indian affairs, was again discussed at OIC. We reject such references to a matter very internal to India. We have said in the past that OIC has no locus standi to comment on India's internal affairs. We feel that it is completely unwarranted to discuss a matter related to India's internal affairs in any multi-cultural setup," he said at a press conference here.

Earlier, India's Ambassador to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin, had called Pakistan a 'one-trick-pony' for raking up the Kashmir issue at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and asserted that India was confident of handling the situation.

Responding to a question about the possibility of the neighbour country raking up the issue of Kashmir at the UNGA, Akbaruddin stated that the UN works best on multilateralism, adding that 'single act plays have no resonance in such matters.'

On September 21, India had pulled out of the proposed meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on the sidelines of the UNGA, hours after two Special Police Officers and one policeman in Jammu and Kashmir were kidnapped and brutally killed by terrorists.

India's withdrawal also came over Pakistan's move to release stamps glorifying terrorist Burhan Wani, who was killed by the Indian security forces in 2016 in Kashmir.

When asked if there will be at least a handshake between Swaraj and Qureshi during the informal meeting of SAARC Council of Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of UNGA, the MEA spokesperson said, "This is something very difficult to predict."

On the recently-held 2+2 dialogue with the United States, Kumar said, "Recently we had a 2+2 dialogue with the US where we sensitised them of our concerns, sensitivities, and expectations. We felt there was a bit of understanding from the US side on our position. We're working towards ensuring our energy security and national security."

Speaking on the sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran, Kumar said that India will remain engaged with all stakeholders who are a part of the process, including Iran.

"It was natural the issue of sanctions did come up during the meeting. We shared each others' position about where we stand at this point of time," he added. (ANI)

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