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China holds key to listing Masood Azhar global terrorist at UN met
China has thrice blocked the move by India and other UN members to designate Masood a global terrorist both lack of evidence and consensus on why it did so.
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The UN Security Council will shortly take a call on designating Jaish-e-Mohammed Masood Azhar. a ‘global terrorist’ with China saying it will adopt a “responsible attitude” towards the move and pitch for a solution acceptable to all sides.
The proposal to designate Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council was moved by France, UK and the US on February 27 after the February 14 terror attack that killed 40 CRPF jawans in Kashmir’s Pulwama. Jaish had taken responsibility for the suicide bombing.
China holds the key to the designation proposal, the fourth so far. Beijing has thrice blocked the move by India and other UN members to designate Masood a global terrorist both lack of evidence and consensus on why it did so.
“China will adopt a responsible attitude and continue to participate in discussions,” foreign ministry spokesperson, Lu Kang said Wednesday when asked about what position China would take on the issue of Azhar’s listing. The statement is seen as a hint of yet another veto by China at the UNSC.
On Tuesday, the US cautioned China that the failure of the UNSC move to designate Azhar a terrorist, would “run counter” to the shared goal of the two countries of achieving peace and stability in the region.
On Monday, India and the US called on Pakistan to take “concerted action” to dismantle terror infrastructure and deny safe haven to all terror groups, reflecting the growing pressure on Islamabad to crack down on terror after the Pulwama suicide bombing.
Pressuring Pakistan to deliver on its counter-terrorism commitments and the move to designate Azhar a global terrorist figured in foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale’s meeting with US secretary of state Mike Pompeo.
Gokhale’s visit also provided India an opportunity to give a final push to efforts, to list Azhar through the UN’s Sanctions Committee.
