95at this meeting. Pakistan took full advantage of this ineptitude of our and
ensured our exclusion from the OIC, despite our having the second larg-
est Muslim population in the world” (Dixit 1996 , 240).
Though the al-Aqsa fire was the stated objective, the broader political
agenda of the Rabat conference was obvious. It was meant to formalize
the demise of secular Arab nationalism and herald the Islamic resurgence
in the Middle East and beyond. While Ba’athist Iraq and Syria stayed away
from Rabat, Egypt was presented not by President Nasser but by his dep-
uty Anwar Sadat. Above all, the Indo-Pakistan rivalry hijacked the sum-
mit’s focus and agenda. However, Pakistan’s prolonged efforts towards a
pan-Islamic bloc bore fruits in 1972 with the formation of the Organization
of Islamic Conference (OIC), renamed as Organization of Islamic
Cooperation in 2011. Since its establishment, the organization has been
periodically making statements critical of India on Kashmir and occasion-
ally on the conditions of the Indian Muslims.
oic and india
From the beginning, the OIC has been functioning as a handmaid of
Pakistan. Reflecting the Pakistani position the declaration issued at the
end of the first Islamic summit mentioned that the attendees included the
representatives “of the Muslim community of India” (OIC 1969 ).
Pakistan’s membership was accompanied by its citizens holding key posi-
tions in the organization and Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada served as Secretary
General during 1984–88. India’s non-membership meant that the organi-
zation which functions by consensus does not have to accommodate or
reflect New Delhi’s position. For example, the Iraqi membership pre-
vented the OIC from declaring it as the ‘aggressor’ over its eight-year-
long war with Iran (Al-Ahsan 2004 ; Sharqieh 2012 ). Though some
countries have been sympathetic towards it, India’s counter-narratives do
not find a place in the OIC deliberations. Thus, most OIC summits, for-
eign ministers meetings and other gatherings routinely contain critical and
unfriendly references about India, especially over Kashmir and occasion-
ally on other domestic developments in India.
In the initial years, the OIC has been relatively silent on India. For
example, the second OIC summit which met in Lahore in February 1974
saw the entry of Bangladesh but did not refer to India (OIC 1974 ). India’s
troubles began with the onset of insurgency in Kashmir in the summer of
- Coming in the wake of the Soviet pull-out from Afghanistan and
PAKISTAN FACTOR