Pak FM boycotts OIC meet over Sushma's attendance

Islamabad, March 1: Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi boycotts the foreign ministers' meet of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation states in Abu Dhabi. He said he will not attend the Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for having extended an invitation to India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj as a guest of honor.


Sushma Swaraj, who is in Abu Dhabi, is expected to raise the issue of terrorism, amidst Indo-Pak tensions following the Pulwama terror attack. Swaraj will attend the inaugural plenary of the two-day meeting on today. It is for the first time that India has been invited to a meeting of the OIC, an influential grouping of 57 Islamic countries, as the guest of honor.


Pakistan, a member of the OIC, tried to get Swaraj 'disinvited' from the Abu Dhabi meet following India's air strike on the terror camp in Pakistan. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Thursday said the OIC is "our home" so he will go there but will not hold talks with Swaraj.

The OIC had disinvited India from its conference in 1969 in Morocco at Pakistan's behest. The OIC has usually been supportive of Pakistan and often sided with Islamabad on the Kashmir issue.


The MEA said Foreign Minister of United Arab Emirates Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan invited Swaraj as the 'guest of honor' to address the inaugural plenary and that India was happy to accept the invitation.