OIC meet in Pakistan to address issues of Muslim world: Envoy

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Foreign Ministers’ meeting is an important platform for Muslim majority countries to discuss challenges and issues, a top envoy said in Abu Dhabi.

“It is a platform to share ideas, views and issues commonly and individually faced by countries with Muslims in majority. Islamic countries have a lot of reasons, commonalities and potential, to sit together and find ways and means to address various issues,” Afzaal Mahmood, Ambassador of Pakistan to the UAE, said on Wednesday.

The 48th session of the OIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting will be held in Pakistan’s capital city of Islamabad on March 22 and 23.

“The meeting is taking place at a very interesting and challenging time. We have so many issues to address together,” he noted.

Pakistan, the envoy said, has been playing an active and effective role in making the OIC an effective platform to discuss different challenges. On December 19 last year, Islamabad hosted the Extraordinary Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers Council to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.

The ambassador expects a “productive outcome” from this month’s meeting themed: ‘Partnering for Unity, Justice and Development’.

The UAE will be participating in the event, Mahmood confirmed. “I met the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. We expect the highest level of representation.”

The ambassador is unsure if the Russia-Ukraine crisis, with the former being an OIC observer country, will be taken up for discussion.“It will be up to the members when the decide the agenda of the meeting.”