India on Tuesday strongly rejected the references made to it in the Joint Communiqué issued by the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir, calling them “unwarranted and factually incorrect.”
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) had no standing to comment on matters that are strictly internal to India, reiterating that the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral and inalienable part of the country. “No amount of repetition of politically motivated propaganda can change this reality,” the statement said, adding that the OIC’s repeated endorsement of such narratives raises serious questions about its own credibility.
India also took a sharp swipe at Pakistan’s role within the grouping, saying that instead of offering Islamabad a platform to “peddle its fabricated and motivated propaganda,” the OIC would be better advised to counsel Pakistan to look inward. The statement pointed to Pakistan’s “well-documented record of supporting and sponsoring terrorism” and urged the country to address the continuing threat of terrorism emanating from territories under its control.
The rebuttal follows a familiar pattern in India-OIC engagement. The OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir, formed at Pakistan’s initiative decades ago, has periodically issued statements on the region, drawing similar pushback from New Delhi each time. India has consistently maintained that Jammu and Kashmir is a domestic issue and has objected to any attempt by international forums to weigh in on it, particularly when Pakistan is seen as driving the agenda.
The statement comes at a time when India has been engaged in a broader diplomatic tussle with Pakistan over Kashmir at various global platforms, including recent exchanges at the United Nations, where Indian diplomats have repeatedly countered Pakistani references to the region with sharp rebuttals of their own.
New Delhi’s response makes clear that it views such communiqués as part of a coordinated campaign rather than isolated statements, and signals that India is likely to continue contesting the OIC’s involvement in the matter going forward.
