OIC can't comment on internal affairs: India

India on Saturday strongly reacted to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)'s statement on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir at the United Nations. Responding to Pakistan's statement on behalf of the OIC, Sumit Seth, First Secretary at India's Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva was quoted as saying that the group (OIC) has no locus standi to comment on India's internal affairs. He added that the state is an "integral and inseparable" part of the country.

"India notes with utmost regret that the OIC statement contains factually incorrect and misleading references to the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is an integral and inseparable part of India," he said. "India rejects all such references. The OIC has no locus standi on India's internal affairs. We strongly advise the OIC to refrain from making such references in future," Seth said.

Pakistan has called on the UN to stop the violence in the Indian state. It has blamed Indian forces for ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and accused India of making attempts to discredit the Kashmiri indigenous movement. It has also alleged that India is trying to change the demography of Kashmir.

This isn't the first time the OIC commented on the Kashmir issue. In one such instance in July, the OIC talked about "gross human rights violations in Kashmir" and said the Kashmir dispute posed a threat to the peace and security of the region. The OIC made these comments at a foreign ministers' meeting in Cote d'Ivoire. Last year, during the height of unrest in Kashmir, the OIC at the behest of Pakistan, announced setting up of a group to investigate human rights violations and sought to visit both sides of Kashmir across the LoC.