NEW DELHI, May 6 (TNS): In a move likely to displease Pakistan as Bangladesh has sounded the first official call to induct countries with large Muslim populations, like India, as observers to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, a club which has only Muslim majority countries as its members, Indian media reported.
At a meeting of OIC foreign ministers in Dhaka on Saturday, Bangladesh minister Abul Hasan Mahmood Ali called for reforms in the organisation that can pave the way for countries like India, which are not Muslim majority, to get an observer seat in the OIC.
Though Pakistan is unlikely to welcome the proposal as it uses the forum to regularly target India, the list of likely candidates also includes its “all-weather” ally China and Bangladesh has also put forward the “inclusion” argument to say that large Muslim populations should not be denied a say at the OIC. Muslims in India constitute 10% of the global adherents of the faith.
Egypt, with a population of 92 million, is 5% of the global Muslim population. In terms of Muslims as a percentage of the global population, India ranks third after Indonesia and Pakistan. Ali said, “A number of countries, not OIC members, have a large number of Muslims as their citizens. The Muslims may be minority in those countries, but in terms of number they often exceed the total population of many OIC member countries.”
“There is a need to build bridges with those non-OIC countries so that a large number of Muslim populations do not remain untouched by the good work of OIC. That is why reforms and restructuring is critical for OIC,” the Bangladesh foreign minister said. Calling for reforms of the organisation to make it more contemporary, Ali said, “We need to rethink our work, method and process of functioning to cater to the needs of the current era and beyond.”
Bangladesh’s suggestion received support of the OIC secretary general. This is not the first time there has been a call to bring countries like India into the ambit of the OIC, but Pakistan has always held a veto position. In the past decade, however, India’s relations with the Islamic world have undergone aconsiderable transformation.
Courtesy: Times of India
