On Friday, the first day of March, India cherished two path breaking
events which exemplified country’s increasing diplomatic heft-the return of
Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman from Pakistan and India occupying a high
chair at pan-Islamic institution. Scripting a new a mile stone, External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who was invited as Guest of Honor on the eve of
the Golden jubilee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) addressed
the second largest international forum after the UN. Inline with the theme of
the OIC, the year of tolerance, UAE extended invitation to India, a non-Muslim
country, to preside over as guest of honor at the OIC summit. As a
representative of 185 million Indian Muslims, third largest conglomeration in
the World, Swaraj carried the message of the Indian Muslim brethren to OIC.
After stupendous victory of BJP, in the 2014 general elections, it was
widely assumed that India’s relations with the Gulf countries might take a hit.
Much to the consternation of critics, Prime Minister Modi, who had no
diplomatic baggage, engaged with the Muslim nations proactively. Invoking
India’s civilizational, cultural, religious and financial linkages Modi
energized the bilateral ties with all the strategically important Muslim nations.
To his credit, he effortlessly, reinvigorated India’s ties with all the
countries in the gulf region. On his visit to UAE, Modi made an impressive
progress in especially cultivating special ties with crown Prince of UAE,
Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, fondly referred as MBZ. Against the precedent of
inviting either a head of state or head of government as guest of honor for the
Republic Day celebrations, as mark of recognition of India’s growing strategic
congruence with UAE, New Delhi extended a warm invitation to MBZ for the
Republic Day Parade in the year 2017. Indeed, for the first time in 2017, 179-member
strong UAE military contingent marched along with Indian soldiers on Republic
Day heralding the unfoldment of new era of friendship and solidarity.
Similarly, Modi pioneered India’s strategic engagement with Saudi Arabia. As a
mark of India’s growing recognition in global realm, Saudi conferred highest
civilian award, King Abdul Aziz Sash on Prime Minister Modi. Exuding a rare diplomatic acumen, Modi
strengthened India’s ties with three rival countries of the region-Saudi
Arabia, Iran and Israel. Unencumbered by diplomatic diffidence, Modi openly
endorsed India’s strategic partnership with Israel during his historic visit. Underpinning
the India’s growing engagement with Middle Eastern countries, UAE invited India
to be guest of honour at the plenary session of OIC 2019. The recognition,
which come in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack that killed 40 Indian security
personnel took Pakistan by surprise. Pakistan has always used the platform of
OIC to buttress its position on Kashmir and censure India.
This new development in the background of heightened tensions between
India and Pakistan inadvertently reminded India of its unpleasant disinvite to OIC
fifty years ago. Desecration of the Al-Asqa Mosque at Jerusalem in 1969
catalyzed the formation of pan-Islamic institution, OIC to foster the cultural,
social, economic and political interests of the global Muslim community. The
delegation led by India’s ambassador to Morocco, Gurubachan Singh Congress
attended the first OIC summit meet at Morocco, Rabat. King Faisal of Saudi
Arabia and Jordan King Hussein of Jordan suggested that India, which has
largest Muslim minority should be a part of OIC but President of Pakistan Yahya
Khan was averse to this idea. Pakistan, the largest Muslim country believed
that Muslim majority country or a country headed by Muslim representative is
alone eligible to be part of OIC. He was
averse to induction of Indian delegation led by non-Muslim and threatened to
boycott. On the second day of the session, Khan remained in the hotel and
refused to attend conference. At
Pakistan’s insistence, India’s invitation was rescinded by King Hassan-II of
Morocco, who feared that non-attendance of Yahya Khan would lead to historic
failure of first OIC summit. Indeed, Prime Minister of Malaysia Tunku Abdul
Rahman was summoned to plead Indians to withdraw involuntarily from the summit.
Consequently, Indian delegation returned home without attending concluding
session. Congress leader, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed reached Morocco was asked to
either accept the observer status or withdraw. After the Rabat fiasco, India
withdrew its ambassador from Morocco and stayed away from OIC. Ever since,
Pakistan continued to block India’s observer status to OIC. In 2006, King
Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on his India visit suggested that India should be an
Observer at OIC and last year, Bangladesh has proposed that India’s observer
status. But Pakistan blocked it. While it is argued that according to OIC
charter, Muslim countries willing to promote the objectives of the OIC are
eligible to gain membership, non-Muslim countries have become observers and
full members. In 2005, Russia became observer, two years after President Putin
announced that Russia was a “Muslim power”. To appease the Chechnya Muslims,
Putin expressed his interest to work with Muslim countries. Similarly, Buddhist
country Thailand became observer in 1998.
Fifty years since Rabat incident, foreign minister of Pakistan, Shah
Mehmood Qureshi threatened to boycott the summit, if India would preside over
the Plenary as the guest of honor. Muslim countries didn’t yield to Pakistan’s
protests. Expressing its displeasure abundantly, Pakistan announced that it
will not attend the 46th session of OIC’s Council for Foreign
Ministers (CFM) and announced that a joint resolution passed members of
Parliament decided that Pakistan shouldn’t attend the meeting. On March 1st,
Sushma Swaraj became the first Hindu Woman to address the plenary on the Golden
jubilee eve of OIC, an empty chair for founder member Pakistan eloquently
signified its absence.
Carrying the message of Prime Minister Modi, as a representative of
Indian Muslims, Swaraj expressed deep appreciation for the invitation extended
by MBZ. Invoking India’s deep emotional bonds with various Muslim nations
spanning from shores of South east Asia to Latin America, including the Central
Asian and African nations, Swaraj appreciated role played by OIC in bringing
people of common faith together. Harping about changing global power shifts and
the challenges faced by countries Swaraj effortlessly segued into the specter
of terrorism and the inhuman violence caused by the extremism. “Terrorism and extremism bear different names
and labels. But in each case, it is driven by distortion of religion and a
misguided belief in its power to succeed. The fight against terrorism is not a
confrontation against any religion”. She added, none of the 99 words that
describe Allah mean violence. Similarly, each and every religion in the world
essentially stand for peace, compassion and brotherhood and quoted verses from
Koran and teachings of Guru Nanak. Underscoring the pluralistic nature of
Indian civilization, Swaraj quoted Rig Veda and Swami Vivekananda. She stated
terrorism is a “contest of ideas and
ideals.” If countries want to save the humanity from the menace of
terrorism, without naming Pakistan, she said, “we must tell the states who provide shelter and funding to the
terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorist camps and stop funding
and shelter to terror organizations based in their countries. I would like to
say that this menace could not be fought only through military, intelligence
and diplomatic means. It is also a battle that must be won through the strength
of our values and real message of religions”. Making a fervent appeal that
OIC has a greater responsibility and opportunity to make this planet a better
place to live, pledged India’s support in “advocating
moderation over extremism and pluralism over exclusion”.
After India’s big day at OIC, some strategists hailed the event as
India’s major “diplomatic coup”. But
India’s vivacity evaporated and critics began to lash out after Pakistan
managed to bring out special resolution on Kashmir criticizing “India’s intensified barbarities since July
2016”, “illegal detentions and
disappearances” and endorsed “plebiscite”
for resolving the Kashmir issue. Responding to the resolution, MEA reiterated,
“as regards resolution on Jammu and
Kashmir, our stand is consistent and well known. We reaffirm that Jammu and
Kashmir is an integral part of India and is a matter strictly internal to India”.
While critics took a swipe at the current political dispensation for it
vainglorious adventure at OIC it now emerges that Pakistan exerted pressure to
pass this resolution on Kashmir.
Pakistan’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia Raja Ali Ejaz protested OIC
plenary for inviting India and prevailed upon Saudi Arabia and UAE to rescind
invitation to India. Notwithstanding Pakistan’s strident protests, UAE extended
a warm welcome to Swaraj. To this end, Pakistan’s resolution on Kashmir at OIC
was a major victory for Islamabad. Fresh reports threw light on the inside
story at OIC which suggest that Kashmir issue is not part of the final
communique of the Abu Dhabi declaration. The joint declaration is one adopted
by all the 57-member countries of the OIC. Despite Pakistan’s numerous
protestations, UAE didn’t give, as a result, Kashmir didn’t finally figure in
the final draft passed by the 46th CFM, OIC session. An OIC official
clarified member countries can move their own resolution reflecting national
interests which go unopposed. Omission of Kashmir from the final declaration is
a major diplomatic victory for India. The only time when Kashmir wasn’t
referenced was the 43rd session of OIC, Tashkent Declaration.
By and large, OIC is a toothless organization which failed to rein in on
aggressors that continue to wreak havoc in the Middle East. Though OIC is the
largest Islamic institution it floundered in bringing a semblance of unity
among its member countries indulged in internecine wars. Despite the loud talk
of Muslim brotherhood, Middle East continues to be a cauldron of Sunni-Shia
conflicts. In its five decades of existence, OIC failed to evolve as a cohesive
force. Till now, OIC had always sided with Pakistan and alienated India despite
New Delhi’s solidarity towards Muslim causes. Given the inherent fissures and
infightings, OIC is no longer a cohesive institution. By consequence, its
condemnation may not be reflective of the aspiration of all Muslim countries in
the group. But OIC holds key to India’s energy requirements and employs over 8
million Indians who send valuable remittances to the motherland. India can’t
afford to shy away from engaging with OIC which is a front for Muslim countries
across the globe. OIC in part affects India’s national interests as well. Cognizant
of OIC’s growing clout and economic stature, China applied for Observer status
in 2012. Beijing is coopting with OIC countries to give wings to a Sino-Centric
emerging World order.
For long Pakistan has vetoed India’s engagement with OIC. Given the
invaluable growth opportunities India can offer as a fastest developing economy
and its commitment to pluralism, Gulf nations wary of extremism and terrorism
are keen on cementing ties with New Delhi. Needless to say, Modi’s renewed push
to India’s productive engagement with UAE and Saudi Arabia has been at the root
of New Delhi’s newfound importance at OIC. At a time, when India is striving to
emerge as responsible regional power a new recognition at OIC opened up a new
opportunity for India to engage with Muslim conclave. With power centers increasingly
shifting from West to East, India has larger role to play. New Delhi shouldn’t
be averse to prospect of forging “non-ideological and interest-based
relationships” with OIC.
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