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Congress MP's ‘jhoola diplomacy’ dig as China blocks bid to tag Sajir Mir as global terrorist
Over the past few years, China has repeatedly blocked efforts by India and its partners to designate Pakistan-based terrorists.
A day after China blocked a move at the UN Security Council to designate Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Sajid Mir as a global terrorist, Congress MP Abhishek Manu Shinghvi said one should never trust the Chinese or even the United States as geopolitics only understands “transactionalism”.
India and the US had to blacklist Mir, wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council as a global terrorist that would have subjected him to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo.
“China blocks Sajid Mir's listing as Global terrorist before the UN Security Council. I mean well when I say never trust the Chinese or even the USA. Jhoola diplomacy is only good for optics. All geopolitics understands is transactionalism,” Shinghvi said in a tweet.
Mir has already been designated a terrorist under the laws of India and the US.
In a sharply-worded response to China's move at a high-level conference on counter-terrorism at the UN General Assembly, India said it had “righteous reasons to believe something is genuinely wrong with the global counter-terrorism architecture”.
"If we cannot get established terrorists, who have been banned across global landscapes, proscribed by the United Nations - for petty geopolitical interests - then we really do NOT have the genuine political will to sincerely fight this challenge..."
The White House said the Biden administration's belief in that designation speaks for itself.
"Well, I think our belief in that designation speaks for itself," John Kiby, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, said during a press conference.
Who is Sajid Mir?
Mir, believed to be in his mid-40s, is one of India's most wanted terrorists and has a bounty of $5 million on his head - placed by the US - for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
In June last year, Mir was handed a 15-year sentence by a Pakistan anti-terrorism court.
Pak authorities have claimed Mir died later but Western countries remain unconvinced and have demanded proof of his death.
The issue made headlines last year when global anti-terrorism watchdog FATF assessed Pak's progress towards combating terror funding activities.
