Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has called for joint action by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to confront rising Islamophobia. 

He was speaking at Foreign Ministers Preparatory meeting at the 15th Islamic Summit of the OIC in Banjul, The Gambia.

The Foreign Minister said increasing Islamophobia is manifested by an increasing number of incidents of discrimination, violence, and incitement against Muslims around the world.               

He urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to formulate a joint strategy to influence global information networks to harmonize their application of content regulation policies for blasphemous, anti-Islamic and Islamophobic content.                    

The Foreign Minister reaffirmed Pakistan's full support for the inalienable right to self-determination of the Kashmiri and Palestinian people.

He called for an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, Israel's accountability for war crimes committed in Gaza and re-activation of OIC's Ministerial Committee on Israel's aggression against the Palestinians. 

The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister strongly condemned India's oppressive actions in Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

During the Meeting, Pakistan was unanimously elected as the Vice-Chair of the Bureau of Foreign Ministers' Preparatory Meeting for 15th Islamic Summit of the OIC.