Besides, three of India’s neighbours — Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Maldives — which are also OIC members, have already condemned the attack. Government sources said the idea behind getting OIC members to condemn the attack is to portray Pakistan as the perpetrator and isolate it diplomatically. Though the OIC members have not named Pakistan, Delhi is quite pleased with their formulation so far — barring a few nuances. From India’s perspective, the most important statement among the OIC members has been from Saudi Arabia, which has conveyed its “strong condemnation and denunciation of the terrorist attack”. Although Qatar, another key member of the OIC, has condemned the attack, it has called it a “criminal attack”, while reiterating its “stance rejecting violence and terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”.

Source: Indian Express September 20, 2016 19:30 UTC