{"id":126950,"date":"2026-09-30T15:37:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T10:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=126950"},"modified":"2026-09-30T15:37:36","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T10:07:36","slug":"india-and-the-oic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/india-and-the-oic\/","title":{"rendered":"India and the OIC, Relations, Issues and Significance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, India rejected the OIC Contact Group\u2019s remarks on Jammu and Kashmir, which called for a settlement of the Kashmir issue based on relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India stated that the OIC has no locus standi in India\u2019s internal matters and reiterated that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of India.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>What is the OIC?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is the <\/span><b>second-largest intergovernmental organisation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> after the <\/span><b>United Nations<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with <\/span><b>57 member states<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> spread across four continents.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Established: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1969 at Rabat, Morocco, following the arson attack on the Al-Aqsa Mosque.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Headquarters:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Role: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The OIC seeks to promote solidarity and cooperation among its members and represents itself as the collective voice of the Muslim world.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>OIC Objectives<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The OIC seeks to promote cooperation among its members while upholding sovereignty and peaceful settlement of disputes.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Solidarity:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Strengthen unity and cooperation among member states.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Sovereignty:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Respect the independence and territorial integrity of states.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Peace: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Promote peaceful settlement of international disputes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Development:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Encourage cooperation in trade, science, technology, education and culture.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Common concerns:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Address issues such as Palestine, terrorism, extremism and Islamophobia.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>India and the OIC<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>India is not a member or observer of the OIC. <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Government of India has consistently maintained that the OIC has no locus standi in matters concerning India&#8217;s internal affairs, including Jammu and Kashmir.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Despite this, India maintains strong bilateral relations with several OIC member states, particularly in the Gulf and West Asia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A major diplomatic development came in 2019, when the United Arab Emirates invited India as the Guest of Honor at the 46th Session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers in Abu Dhabi. India&#8217;s then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addressed the inaugural plenary, marking India&#8217;s participation at a high-level OIC meeting despite not being a member.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>India&#8217;s engagement has therefore largely focused on bilateral relations with individual OIC member states, while it continues to reject OIC involvement in matters it considers India&#8217;s internal affairs.<\/b><\/p>\n<h2><b>Why does the OIC Raise the Kashmir Issue?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jammu and Kashmir has remained on the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/organisation-of-islamic-cooperation-oic\/\" target=\"_blank\">OIC<\/a><\/strong> agenda because the organisation has consistently framed the issue around self-determination and relevant United Nations resolutions, while Pakistan continues to raise it in OIC forums.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The OIC continues to refer to relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions and the principle of self-determination as the basis for its position on Jammu and Kashmir.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The issue is also institutionalised through the OIC\u2019s Ministerial Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir, which provides a platform for discussing the issue and issuing statements.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pakistan, as an OIC member, has repeatedly raised Jammu and Kashmir within OIC forums, keeping the issue prominent on the organisation\u2019s political agenda.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India, however, rejects the OIC\u2019s involvement, maintaining that it has no locus standi in India\u2019s internal affairs and that Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral and inalienable parts of India.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Significance of the OIC for India<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The importance of the OIC for India comes primarily from the strategic, economic and people-to-people importance of its member states, particularly in the Gulf and West Asia.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Energy Security : <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">OIC members are major energy partners for India, making stable relations important for crude oil and natural gas supplies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Diaspora and Remittances : <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gulf hosts a large Indian diaspora, making their employment, welfare and remittances an important dimension of India&#8217;s engagement.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Trade and Investment : <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">OIC countries provide important markets and investment opportunities for India, particularly in energy, infrastructure, technology and finance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Maritime Security : <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Gulf and West Asia are critical to India&#8217;s energy routes and maritime trade, making regional stability strategically important.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Counter-Terrorism : <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Engagement with Muslim-majority countries strengthens cooperation against terrorism and violent extremism and helps India build broader diplomatic support.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Multilateral Diplomacy :<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The OIC&#8217;s 57 members constitute a significant diplomatic grouping, making engagement with its members important for India&#8217;s outreach across the Global South.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>India and the OIC Challenges\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The relationship combines strong bilateral partnerships with differences over political and strategic issues.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Kashmir issue:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Repeated OIC statements on Jammu and Kashmir remain a source of diplomatic friction.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Pakistan factor:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Pakistan&#8217;s role within the OIC gives continued prominence to the Kashmir issue.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Collective vs bilateral positions: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India can maintain strong relations with individual OIC members even when it disagrees with an OIC collective position.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Balancing interests:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> India has to protect its economic and strategic interests in the Gulf while firmly maintaining its positions on sovereignty, territorial integrity and terrorism.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Way Forward<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India can manage these differences while continuing to deepen engagement with OIC countries.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Strengthen bilateral partnerships:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Expand cooperation in energy, trade, investment, technology and defence.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Deepen economic engagement:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Greater economic interdependence can broaden the relationship beyond political disagreements.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Strengthen counter-terrorism cooperation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Build partnerships against terrorism and violent extremism.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Maintain diplomatic dialogue: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Regular engagement can prevent differences over Kashmir from dominating the wider relationship.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Promote people-to-people ties: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Diaspora, education and cultural exchanges can strengthen India&#8217;s engagement with Muslim-majority countries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir drew India\u2019s rejection over its remarks, as India reiterated that the OIC has no locus standi and called J&#038;K and Ladakh integral parts of India.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":126928,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[786],"tags":[10589],"class_list":["post-126950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-general-studies","tag-india-and-the-oic","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126950"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126957,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126950\/revisions\/126957"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}