Pakistan Minister to skip Islamic Nations (OIC) meet in Abu Dhabi as India is attending

NEW DELHI: As India’s Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj reached Abu Dhabi for the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Friday that he would not participate in the meeting over India’s presence.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi while speaking at the joint session of Parliament stated that “I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for (them) having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj.”

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday reached Abu Dhabi to attend a conclave of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as a Guest of Honour after attending the 16th Foreign Ministers meeting of Russia-India-China (RIC) at Wuzhen in China.

Swaraj will address the plenary of the 46th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers to be held in Abu Dhabi from March 1 to 2. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has threatened to boycott the OIC meeting if Swaraj participated.