India invited to OIC meet, first time ever

New Delhi, February 23

India has won a first-ever invite to a ministerial meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC), a powerful block of Muslim nations. UAE, the host of the OIC meeting on March 1 and 2, has invited Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to one of the sessions.

Though this meeting is not a marquee event like the OIC summit, the invite will considerably irk Pakistan, which has been at the receiving end following the Pulwama attack at international bodies.

After the Indians lobbied in New York for nearly a week, the UNSC condemned the Pulwama attack and named JeM as a terrorist organisation. Indians next posed sharp questions in Paris, forcing the global Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to put Pakistan on notice for failing to implement anti-money laundering and terror financing laws.

Exactly half a century ago, Pakistan had prevented India from joining the OIC by threatening a walkout from its first summit meeting in Morocco. As a result, the Indian delegate and later President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed had to return from Rome. OIC has 57 members. — TNS  

Welcome it: MEA

“We see this invitation as a welcome recognition by OIC of the presence of 185 million Muslims in India and of their contribution to its pluralistic ethos, and of India’s contribution to the Islamic world...”