OIC senior officials meet to finalize agenda for Sunday’s Extraordinary CFM moot

Islamabad: The opening session of the senior officials meeting started here Saturday to finalize the agenda and work plan for the OIC’s foreign minister’s meeting set to take place Sunday.

Convened by Saudi Arabia and being hosted by Pakistan, the 17th Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of Organization of Islamic Cooperation will be held on Sunday here.

Addressing the preparatory meeting, OIC Assistant Secretary-General Humanitarian Affairs Ambassador Tarig Bakheet said it was crucial for the international community to take swift action to ensure that the people of Afghanistan have unimpeded access to life-saving assistance, and the humanitarian support need to be scaled up”

He said the OIC humanitarian Office in Kabul would assume its responsibility in coordination with the various international agencies in delivering the required assistance to the millions of people in need.

“I am confident that the OIC fraternity, the United Nations, and regional partners would take all necessary steps to bring sustainable solutions to the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Afghanistan in which millions of lives are at stake,” the ambassador said.

Earlier in the day, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the meeting of the officials would work out the agenda and the work plan for the main conference.

He hoped that the officials would build consensus as the Sunday’s moot was very significant and historic providing the international community a chance to make a right decision without repeating the past mistake of abandoning the Afghan people.