India, May 6 -- India on Tuesday rejected the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) stance on linking the Pahalgam terror attack to the Kashmir issue and said it is "absurd" that the 57-member grouping was refusing to acknowledge the "cross-border linkages" of the incident.

The OIC had expressed deep concern at the "deteriorating security situation" in South Asia and called for restraint, while contending that the "unresolved" Kashmir issue was the "core challenge to lasting peace" in the region.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the OIC had issued its statement "at the behest of Pakistan", and its position was "absurd in refusing to recognise the facts of the Pahalgam terrorist attack and its cross-borde...