Saudi Arabia to convene OIC meeting on Kashmir

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan

Saudi Arabia plansto convene a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Organisation of IslamicCooperation on Kashmir, in an apparent move by Riyadh to pleasePakistan which skipped a recent summit of Muslim nations in Malaysia seen byRiyadh as an attempt to create a new bloc to replace the dysfunctional OIC ledby it.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhanconveyed this to his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi during ameeting with him at the Foreign Office on Thursday, Dawn reported, quoting adiplomatic source.

He was on a day-longvisit to Islamabad to convey the Saudi leadership's gratitude to Pakistan fornot participating in the recently held Kuala Lumpur summit of Muslim nations inview of the Gulf Kingdom's reservations, the paper reported.

Prime Minister ImranKhan had confirmed Pakistan's participation in the summit hosted by Malaysia,but skipped the event at the eleventh hour due to pressure exerted by SaudiArabia and the United Arab Emirates – key financial backers of the cash-strippedcountry.

Qureshi briefed Prince Faisal on the situation inKashmir in the aftermath of India's move to abrogate article 370 on August 5.

The OIC is a57-member grouping of Muslim majority nations, including Pakistan. The body hasusually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on theKashmir issue.

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