November 02, 2017: China today blocked another bid by the US, France and the UK to list Pakistan-based Jaish e Mohammad Chief and Pathankot terror attack mastermind Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN.
China said it has rejected the move as “there is no consensus”. A veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, China has repeatedly blocked India’s move to put a ban on the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief under the Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council.
China had in August extended by three months its technical hold on the US, France and UK-backed proposal to list Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN after having blocked the move in February this year at the United Nations.
The comment came as the China’s technical hold on a proposal by the US, France and Britain to list Azhar as a global terrorist was set to lapse today.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying’s comment indicates that China will veto the application in the 1267 Committee of the UN Security Council to allow it to lapse.
This is the second year in succession that China has blocked the resolution. Last year, China had done the same to stall India’s application before the same Committee.
The official’s remarks indicate that China will continue its policy to block moves by India and other countries led by the US to block Azhar’s listing during the second term of Chinese President Xi Jinping, which began over a week ago.
India says it is deeply disappointed that once again, a single country has blocked international consensus on the designation of an acknowledged terrorist and leader of UN-designated terrorist organization, Masood Azhar.
Responding to queries on the decision by China to block consensus on the listing of Masood Azhar as an internationally designated terrorist under the UNSCR 1267 Committee, MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said New Delhi strongly believes that double standards and selective approaches will only undermine the international community’s resolve to combat terrorism.
He said India can only hope that there will be a realization that accommodating with terrorism for narrow objectives is both short-sighted and counterproductive. (AIR News)
