ISLAMABAD: The 48th session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) opens here on Tuesday (today) to discuss challenges being faced by the Muslim world and emerging opportunities.

The two-day annual meeting of the 57-member body of Muslim countries is being held under the theme of ‘Building Partnerships for Unity, Justice, and Development’. About 46 member states will be represented at the ministerial level in the meeting. The rest will be represented by senior officials.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, in a tweet welcoming the participants of the meeting, said: “Under overarching theme of ‘Unity, Justice & Development’, OIC-CFM will have wide-ranging deliberations.”

Senior representatives of the United Nations and other international bodies, including the Arab League and the Gulf Cooperation Council, will also participate in the meeting.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is attending the meeting as a special guest. It is the first time that a Chinese foreign minister will attend a meeting of the OIC foreign ministers’ council.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said China’s participation in the event and interactions with member states will further strengthen their engagement.

In addition to China, the foreign ministers are expected to deliberate on OIC’s cooperation with the United Nations, the Russian Federation, and the European Union.

The agenda of the meeting covers a review of the developments affecting the Muslim world since the last CFM held in Niamey in 2020 and efforts undertaken by the secretariat for the implementation of resolutions adopted in previous sessions especially on Palestine and Al Quds.

The participants would also deliberate on the situation in Afghanistan and India-held Jammu and Kashmir.

The meeting, OIC said, represented “the second most prominent OIC activity following extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers held last December on the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan”.

Kashmir issue will also be discussed in a meeting of the Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir on the sidelines of the event.

Issues pertaining to Africa and Muslims in Europe and developments in Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, and Syria, will also be taken up at the meeting.

The agenda, moreover, includes Islamophobia and issues related to international terrorism and cooperation in economic, cultural, social, humanitarian, and scientific domains.

The Islamabad Ministerial, the Foreign Office said, would consider and adopt over 100 resolutions on a broad range of issues, including peace and security; economic development; cultural and scientific cooperation; and humanitarian, legal, administrative and financial matters.