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Wednesday, October 9, 2024

China blocks UN bid to sanction Masood Azhar, again

News Desk |

Beijing on Wednesday, 14th March delayed a request by the United States, Britain, and France, to inscribe Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) Chief Masood Azhar’s name to the United Nations terror blacklist, diplomats attending the session told the press.

It was the fourth time that the UN Security Council was to deliberate a resolution, putting Masood Azhar on the UN sanctions blacklist, which would subject him to a global travel ban and have his assets frozen. China has vetoed the move, in 2009, 2016, and 2017 to slap sanctions on the JeM chief. The organization itself was added to the blacklist back in 2001.

The government had announced last week that more than 100 members of banned organizations, including the son and brother of Azhar and other JeM members, had been arrested in a crackdown against banned outfits.

In a letter sent to the council, China said it needed more time to mull over the sanctions request targeting the JeM Chief, international press reported. Beijing had reminded the UN Security Council on Monday that “a responsible solution” to the issue could come only through dialogue.

China had requested the international community to also pay heed to the Kashmir dispute while making such demands. “China’s position on the designation of a terrorist by the 1267 al Qaida Sanctions Committee is consistent and clear,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang had said when asked about China’s stance on the issue.

Read more: Masood Azhar: Indian media making a fool of itself, again

India claimed, in clumsy rhetoric, that JeM had accepted responsibility for the February 14 attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir that killed 40 Indian troops. The attacker, who was a Kashmiri resident, was shown on the Indian media in a militant outfit linking him to JeM, which later turned out to be a doctored picture.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had also denied in a television interview that JeM had claimed responsibility for the suicide attack. India and Pakistan, since the last week of February to the second week of March, kept the Line of Control hot and tensions soaring; as Indian Air Force dropped bombs in Balakot, PAF downed two of its aircraft in retaliation and captured a pilot, who was later returned to India as a peace gesture.

Read more: Share evidence against Masood Azhar acceptable to Pakistan’s courts: Qureshi

The government had announced last week that more than 100 members of banned organizations, including the son and brother of Azhar and other JeM members, had been arrested in a crackdown against banned outfits.