(Image source from: India Today)

Pakistan Minister of Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday said he won't be attending the inaugural session of the 46th Council of Ministers' Meet of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) where India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been invited as the 'Guest of Honour'.

However, Qureshi also clarified he will take part in the rest of the sessions of the OIC meet.

"I will not attend Council of Foreign Ministers as a matter of principle for having extended invitation as a Guest of Honour to Sushma Swaraj," Qureshi said.

Swaraj is expected to deliver a speech at the inaugural session of the 46th Council of Ministers' Meet. She has been invited by United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to address the OIC meeting.

The invitation to Swaraj came amid fresh tensions between India and Pakistan following the February 14 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district by Jaish-e-Mohammed, Pakistan-based terror outfit, and subsequent air strike by the Indian Air Force on a terror camp in the neighboring country. Earlier, Qureshi threatened to boycott the OIC meet if Swaraj takes part in the event.

"I have no reservations with the OIC or any other Islamic country. My reservations are with Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s attendance at the OIC meeting. If Swaraj attends the meeting then I will not participate in it," he had said.

Founded in 1969, the OIC is an international organization, consisting of 57 member states, with 40 countries being the majority of Muslim countries.

-Sowmya Sangam