Bengaluru: In a massive show of support and victory for fairness and friendship, Maldives has opposed any kind of punitive action against India by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for purported Islamophobia. 

Malé told the OIC in an address this week that singling out India for Islamophobia would not just be factually incorrect but also detrimental to religious harmony in South Asia, as reported by Times of India. 

It also added that it will not support any action against India as if feels India is being singled-out. 

For India, the statement coming out of the OIC member-state is very reassuring at a a time the organisation, which describes itself as the collective voice of the Muslim world, has stepped up attacks on India over not just developments in J&K but also the alleged discrimination against Muslims.

The Maldives Permant Representative in New York, Thilmeeza Hussain, said that while her country stood firmly against Islamophobia, xenophobia or any form of violence to promote political or any other agenda, it also believed targeting a specific country will be like side-stepping the real issue.

"In this light, let me state that singling out India, the largest democracy in the world and a multicultural society and home to over 200 million Muslims, alleging islamophobia would be factually incorrect. It would be detrimental to the religious harmony in the South Asian region," said the official, adding that Islam had existed in India for centuries and that it was the second-largest religion in India, accounting for 14.2% of the country's population.

The top diplomat, who is also the Maldives ambassador to the US, further said "isolated statements by motivated people and disinformation campaigns" on social media should not be construed as representative of the feelings of 1.3 billion.

"Therefore, the Maldives cannot support any action within the OIC, that singles out or targets India," Hussain added.