BEIJING, Mar 20 (APP): Cheng Xizhong, Visiting Professor of Southwest University of Political Science and Law and Senior Fellow of the Charhar Institute on Sunday said that Pakistan has the courage to safeguard the core interests of Muslim countries and was playing a leading role in the Islamic world.
Just a few months after the successful hosting of an extraordinary meeting of the OIC-CFM last year in Islamabad, Pakistan will host the 48th session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Council of Foreign Ministers (OIC-CFM) on March 22-23. This is not only a great honor for Pakistan, but also the full trust of the Islamic world in Pakistan, he added.
Prof. Cheng, who is also former Chinese Defense Attache in South Asian countries, commented that on a series of major issues such as Palestine, Kashmir, Afghanistan and Islamophobia, Pakistan has dared to speak, adhered to justice and safeguarded the core interests of the Islamic world. As a result, Pakistan has not only won the trust of the Muslim countries, but also won universal praise from the international community.
He opined that in safeguarding the core interests of the Islamic world, Pakistan’s greatest contribution was that it repeatedly emphasized the issue of Islamophobia on various international occasions, and finally the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to proclaim March 15 as International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
He said that secondly, Pakistan was committed to regional peace and stability and has been playing a key role in alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and promoting Afghanistan towards lasting peace. Pakistan advocates that the international community should act collectively to avert a humanitarian crisis and economic collapse in Afghanistan, and engage actively with the Afghan authorities to promote human rights, encourage inclusivity, and develop effective strategies to eliminate the terrorist threat from the country.
Prof. Cheng said that under the background of pandemic spreading, war burning and strenuous turbulence in the world, the Islamic world was facing many new challenges, so the upcoming 48th OIC-CFM meeting in Islamabad has assumed huge significance.
The new severe challenges require the OIC member countries to further forge durable unity in their ranks and fortify solidarity besides strengthening unshakable bonds of brotherhood.
“I sincerely wish the 48th session of OIC-CFM a complete success and wish the Muslim Ummah would play a greater role in world affairs and make more contributions to the cause of world peace,” he concluded.
