Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday reaffirmed his government’s commitment to promoting the interest of the Muslim world as a corner-stone of Pakistan’s foreign policy.
He was talking to Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha.
The prime minister thanked the secretary general for OIC’s consistent and unequivocal support to the Kashmir cause, the Prime Minister Office said in a statement.
He urged the organization to lead diplomatic endeavours towards facilitating a peaceful and lasting solution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people.
The prime minister maintained that Pakistan, as the current chair of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers, was looking forward to playing a proactive role with regard to the matters of interest and concern to the OIC member states.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif asked the OIC to launch concerted efforts to stop the ongoing Israeli aggression against Al-Aqsa Mosque and other occupied Palestinian territories.
He added that Israel must not be allowed to divide the mosque, temporally and spatially, between the peoples of different faith.
The prime minister underscored the need to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people and emphasized that the OIC should step up its efforts to counter growing Islamophobia at the international level.
He invited the OIC secretary general to pay a visit to Pakistan, which was accepted.
The secretary general reaffirmed the OIC’s support for a just and peaceful resolution to the Jammu and Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.
He expressed his resolve to work closely with Pakistan on key issues of concern facing the Muslim world, especially Palestine, Afghanistan and Islamophobia.
The secretary general reiterated his felicitations to the prime minister on his recent election and assumption of office.
He also highlighted the important role that Pakistan had always played in the OIC as a founding member.
During the meeting, Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Miftah Ismail, Nawabzada Shahzain Bugti, Marriyum Aurangzeb, Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Dr. Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Mohsin Dawar and Maulana Tahir Ashrafi also accompanied the prime minister.
