HIGHLIGHTS

• At OIC, Pakistan failed in getting Kashmir included in the final joint communique
• Pakistan did not attend the OIC meeting over special honour to Sushma Swaraj
• Pakistan tried its best to get OIC to withdraw its invitation to India but to no avail

Pakistan may have won the battle at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) but, India has won the war. While Pakistan claimed victory for getting a separate resolution on Kashmir passed by the OIC, it failed in getting Kashmir included in the final joint communique, the Abu Dhabi Declaration.

The joint declaration or the final draft is the only document that the host (UAE) drafts and presents for discussion. It is the only document which is adopted by all the 57 member nations at the OIC.

Despite numerous assertions, the forum and the host country did not give in to Pakistan’s demands to include Kashmir in the final draft.

India Today TV has learnt through sources privy to the goings on at the conference that Pakistan used the forum to protest in every session on various issues related to India. The first protest happened during the second session when the Pakistani delegation led by Raja Ali Ejaz, Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, argued with the OIC for extending invitation to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj as the guest of honour.

An official present in the meeting said, “They made their displeasure abundantly clear during the second session of the first day [March 1], blasting the OIC for inviting India. They were referring to some resolution in their Parliament.”

Pakistan, on Friday (March 1), had announced that it will not attend the 46th session of the OIC’s Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM), hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in Abu Dhabi.

During the joint session of Parliament in Pakistan, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said, “A joint resolution has been passed by Parliament, signed by all parties, which demands that Pakistan refrain from attending the OIC meeting. In light of this resolution, I will not attend the meeting.”

That was the first diplomatic win for India.

Pakistan tried its best to get OIC to withdraw its invitation to India but to no avail. Pakistan did not just protest at the forum, the country’s delegation reached out to the UAE and Saudi Arabia and even called for an emergency meeting of the OIC “Contact Group on J&K” in Jeddah on February 27 to get the invitation withdrawn.

Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua and President of AJK or “Azad Kashmir” Masood Khan were also present in the emergency meeting. Their argument was the alleged human rights violations against Kashmiris and minorities in India.

While they tried to make a strong case on why India should not be invited, but the arguments failed to convince the host.

Sushma Swaraj was invited by her UAE counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Sources tell India Today TV that Pakistan was conveyed that there will be no change in the decision to “invite” India. Pakistan was also informed that Sushma Swaraj would be “welcomed with full honour” accorded to a guest.

Despite its insurmountable pressure on all the Islamic nations, the second and bigger blow came when Pakistan could not get ‘Jammu and Kashmir’ mentioned in the joint declaration of the 46th session of OIC.

The Abu Dhabi Declaration has no mention, not even a passing reference, of Jammu and Kashmir. Much diplomatic effort was put in by India to ensure that it is kept out of the joint communique.

Sources say that UAE and Saudi Arabia had a very important role to play in ensuring the “guest” is not “embarrassed”.

The Pakistani delegation was also seen engaged in serious conversations with various foreign ministers, particularly the Saudi foreign minister. However, their efforts could only get them success in separate resolutions on Kashmir, India-Pakistan peace process, the recent air space violations, minorities’ situation in India and destruction of religious place.

An official explained, “The resolutions don’t reflect or need a consensus. They are essentially national positions of individual countries. Many countries move resolutions of their own interest, most go unopposed.”

The last session of the last day (March 2) was a clincher for India. The session to adopt the final document, the Abu Dhabi Declaration, witnessed some hysterical scenes.

When the joint declaration was to be adopted, there were only two countries that stood in protest. Iran and Pakistan. Iran protested the paragraph which spoke of “Iranian occupation of three Emirati islands”, calling the process undemocratic and unfair.

Sources confirmed to India Today TV that the Pakistani delegation was unhappy about the lack of opportunity to get their views into the Abu Dhabi Declaration. So, while Pakistan has been calling its diplomatic maneuverings a grand success, it is India, an outsider, that won the day.

In the history of all the “joint declarations” at the OIC, the 2016 Tashkent Declaration was the only time when Kashmir was omitted from the final document.

source: India Today

HIGHLIGHTS

• Qureshi said that it would not be possible for him to attend OIC meeting where Sushma Swaraj was present
• Qureshi also said that he has spoken to the UAE minister and apprised him of Pakistan’s reservations
• Meanwhile, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s plans are on schedule

Amid tension and threats of boycott, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi would be skipping the inaugural session of the 46th Council of Ministers’ Meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperaton (OIC) since the ‘Guest of Honour’ is India, but has decided to attend the rest of the conference, India Today TV has learnt through reliable sources.

Pakistan had threatened to boycott the entire conference after lodging a strong protest in a letter to OIC Secretary General Yousef bin Ahmad Al-Othaimeen.

Qureshi, in his letter said, “Under the current circumstances, it will not be possible for me to attend OIC meeting where Sushma Swaraj is present.”

India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s plans are on schedule. She will arrive in Abu Dhabi in the intermittent night of Thursday and Friday and would be addressing the inaugural session of the plenary on Friday morning after which there are bilateral meetings lined up for her with many of her counterparts from Islamic nations.

Qureshi said, “India is neither a member of OIC nor an observer. I have spoken to the UAE minister and apprised him of Pakistan’s reservations and told him that he should have spoken to us before inviting Swaraj.”

source: India Today

Speaking exclusively to India Today, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen emphasised that given India’s massive Muslim population, she should be a part of the OIC.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Momen said that Pakistan should emulate what India and Bangladesh have done as neighbours
• There was much talk about Pakistan’s absence at ministerial level at the conference
• There was a bilateral meeting that was held between the foreign ministers of Bangladesh and India

Bangladesh on Friday welcomed the decision of inviting India as ‘Guest of Honour’ at the 46th Session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers held in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking exclusively to India Today, Bangladesh’s Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen emphasised that given India’s massive Muslim population, she should be a part of the OIC. “India is a land of cultural, religious diversity and of tolerance. 1.85 million Muslims live in India so obviously they should be part of the OIC”, he said.

There was much talk about Pakistan’s absence at ministerial level at the conference. When asked, the Bangladeshi minister called it “unfortunate” and told Pakistan to “look beyond”.

He said that Pakistan should emulate what India and Bangladesh have done as neighbours.

“That is very unfortunate. I think it is time to look beyond. We should be mature. The relationship between Bangladesh and India has reached a height of maturity which other people should imitate”, he said.

There was a bilateral meeting that was held between the foreign ministers of Bangladesh and India where all issues of convergences and differences were discussed. Bangladesh raised the issue of the Rohingya.

Momen also stressed on the need for “connectivity” in the economic sphere.

“Economic is the other aspect. Connectivity is productivity. We have a long tradition of relationship of trust and confidence. We have opened up our borders and solved many major problems. Discussed new avenues of economic partnership”, he said regarding the meeting with EAM Sushma Swaraj.

source: India Today

पाकिस्तान के खिलाफ भारत को बड़ी कूटनीतिक सफलता मिली है. दुनिया के तीन ताकतवर देश अमेरिका, ब्रिटेन और फ्रांस मसूद अजहर पर प्रतिबंध लगाने के लिए एक बार फिर संयुक्त राष्ट्र में प्रस्ताव लाएंगे.

पुलवामा हमले के बाद भारत ने पाकिस्तान पर चौतरफा दबाव बनाया है. हमले के बाद कई देश भारत का समर्थन कर चुके हैं. पुलवामा में हुए आत्मघाती हमले की जैश ने जिम्मेदारी ली थी. जैश का सरगना मसूद अजहर पाकिस्तान में छिपा बैठा है.

हमले के 6 दिन बाद चुप्पी तोड़ते हुए पाकिस्तानी पीएम इमरान खान ने भारत से सबूत मांगा था. इमरान खान ने इस कायराना हमले की निंदा तक नहीं की.

सूत्रों के मुताबिक अगले कुछ दिनों में फ्रांस संयुक्त राष्ट्र में मसूद अजहर पर प्रतिबंध लगवाने के लिए प्रस्ताव लाएगा. यह दूसरा मौका होगा जब फ्रांस संयुक्त राष्ट्र में ऐसे किसी प्रस्ताव के लिए पक्ष बनेगा. 2017 में अमेरिका ने ब्रिटेन और फ्रांस के समर्थन से संयुक्त राष्ट्र की प्रतिबंध समिति 1267 में एक प्रस्ताव पारित किया था, जिसमें पाकिस्तान स्थित आतंकी संगठन जैश के प्रमुख मसूद अजहर पर प्रतिबंध लगाने की मांग की गई थी. इस प्रस्ताव पर चीन ने अड़ंगा लगा दिया था.

फ्रांस के इस फैसले पर फ्रांस के राष्ट्रपति के कूटनीतिक सलाहकार फिलिप एतिन और राष्ट्रीय सुरक्षा सलाहकार अजीत डोभाल के बीच मंगलवार सुबह ही बातचीत हुई थी. इस दौरान पुलवामा हमले को लेकर गहरी संवेदनाएं व्यक्त करते हुए फ्रांसीसी कूटनीतिज्ञ ने इस बात पर भी जोर दिया कि दोनों देशों को अपने कूटनीतिक प्रयासों में समन्वय करना चाहिए.

पुलवामा हमले के 100 घंटे के भीतर भारत ने हमले को अंजाम देने वाले जैश के 3 आतंकियों को ढेर कर दिया था. हालांकि इस एनकाउंटर में भारत को बड़ी कीमत चुकानी पड़ी. इस मुठभेड़ में सेना के मेजर समेत चार जवानों को शहादत देनी पड़ी.

source: Aaj Tak

Pakistan tried hiding the ISI officials from the media glare but India Today Television spotted one as he tried to sneak out of the hotel.

source: India Today