Masood Azhar to be Blacklisted? China Likely to Soften Its Stand on UN Ban Against Jaish-e-Mohammad Chief
China has been blocking India's move at the UNSC to enlist Masood Azhar as an international terrorist.
Beijing/New Delhi, April 29: Days after India's Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale shared "all evidences" with the Chinese leadership in Beijing about Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) terror activities, China is likely to ease its hard position on the United Nations (UN) listing of JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, Wion reported on Monday. According to the report, China may not put a technical hold on the issue of listing Masood Azhar as an international terrorist by the UN Security Council (UNSC).
China had put a hold for the fourth time on a US-sponsored resolution against Masood Azhar on March 13 at the 1267 sanctions committee of the UNSC. Bejing has nine months still to decide and remove its objections. Last week, India's Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale had met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Following Gokhle's meeting, the Ministry of External Affairs said: "We have shared with China all evidences of terrorist activities of Jaish-e-Mohammad and its leader Masood Azhar. It is now for the 1267 Sanctions Committee (of the UN Security Council) and other authorized bodies of the UN to take a decision." Here’s How China Blocked the Listing of Masood Azhar at the UNSC.
China has been blocking India's move, which is supported by countries like the US, the UK and France, at the UNSC to enlist Azhar as an international terrorist. JeM has been responsible for a number of terror attacks in India over the last two decades, including the one on Parliament on December 13, 2001. There were fresh attempts for proscribing Azhar in the aftermath of the ghastly Pulwama terror attack on February 14, which was claimed by JeM.
Last month, China's all-weather ally Pakistan reportedly asked Beijing to lift the technical hold, setting preconditions for India. Pakistan told China that it should let the UN ban Masood Azhar if India agrees for a military de-escalation on the border and resumes bilateral dialogue with Islamabad on all outstanding issues including Kashmir, a report said.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 29, 2019 04:01 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).