Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

Overview:

What is OIC:

The OIC is an Islamic-countries international intergovernmental organization. The OIC is the acronym of the organization of Islamic cooperation. The OIC is the second-largest international organization after the United Nations. The OIC members spread over four continents and over 1.5 billion Muslim population live in these countries.

Establishment of the OIC:

The OIC was founded on 25th September 1969 following a fire incident at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

Members of the OIC:

The OIC comprises 57 member states spread over four continents.

List of OIC member countries:

Algeria	Afghanistan
Azerbaijan	Albania
Benin	Burkina Faso
Bahrain	Bangladesh
Brunei	Cameroon
Chad	Comoros
Djibouti	Egypt
Gabon	Gambia
Guinea	Guinea-Bissau
Guyana	Indonesia
Iran	Iraq
Ivory Coast	Jordan
Kazakhstan	Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan	Lebanon
Libya

Mali	Malaysia
Maldives	Mauritania
Morocco	Mozambique
Niger	Nigeria
Oman	Pakistan
Palestine	Qatar
Saudi Arabia	Senegal
Sierra Leone	Somalia
Sudan	Suriname
Syria	Tajikistan
Togo	Tunisia
Turkey	Turkmenistan
UAE	Uganda
Uzbekistan	Yemen

The Objectives of the OIC:

The main priority areas of the OIC are peace and security, Palestine and Al-Quds issue, Poverty alleviation, counter-terrorism, investment and finance, food security, science and technology, climate change, culture and interfaith harmony, empowerment of women, joint Islamic humanitarian action, human rights, and good governance, etc.

OIC Headquarters:

In the year 1970, the first-ever meeting of the Islamic conference of foreign ministers had held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In this meeting, they decided to establish a permanent secretariat in Jeddah.

The key Bodies of OIC:

1. The council of foreign ministers.

2. Al-Quds committee.

3. Islamic Development Bank.

4. The Islamic educational, scientific, and cultural organization.

India and The OIC:

India is not a member of OIC, but India is a potential candidate for membership as India hosts the world's third-largest Muslim population. One another reason is that Pakistan a member of OIC is always opposed to Indian membership in OIC due to their bilateral issues with India however other countries collectively agree on Indian membership in OIC. In 2019, The UAE at that time chair of OIC invited India as a guest country, and at that time Indian foreign minister late Mrs. Sushma Swaraj visited in UAE and shared remarks on behalf of India. In the same meeting, Pakistan boycotted, and no-one attended that meeting on behalf of Pakistan.