New York: The OIC Contact Group on Kashmir has reiterated its support for the right to self-determination of the people in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), dismissing the validity of Indian parliamentary and legislative assembly polls in the region as a substitute for this right. The group also denounced Indian claims over Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan as unwarranted.

According to Kashmir Media Service, a joint communiqué following the meeting stressed that lasting peace and stability in South Asia hinge on the resolution of the Kashmir dispute in line with UN Security Council resolutions and the will of the Kashmiri people. The communiqué emerged from discussions held on the fringes of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, led by OIC Secretary-General Hissein Brahim Taha and attended by representatives from Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, and Niger.

The defense minister of Pakistan, Khawaja Mohammad Asif, represented his country and outlined the worsening human rights situation in IIOJK to the Contact Group. Other key figures included Turkey’s Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov, Saudi Ambassador Haitham Al-Aalki, and Niger’s Director of International Organizations at the Foreign Ministry, Hama Knsaye Souleymane. Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Secretary-General of the World Kashmir Awareness Forum, participated as a representative of the Kashmiri populace.

The session concluded with a call to overturn all illegal changes imposed since August 5, 2019, cease human rights violations, reverse demographic alterations in the contested territory, and grant unrestricted access to the region for UN bodies, international media, and independent observers.