China has blocked a joint India-US proposal to sanction a Pakistan-based terrorist, Abdul Rauf Asghar, an accused in the 1999 IC-814 hijacking, the 2001 Parliament attack and the 2016 attack on an Indian Air Force base in Pathankot. The latest move comes at a time when it is hoping India will support China’s efforts to defend its “sovereignty and security” on the Taiwan issue.
Asghar is also the deputy chief of UN designated terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed and brother of Maulana Masood Azhar, who heads the same organization. Beijing had in June also blocked a proposal to designate deputy chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Abdul Rehman Makki, as a global terrorist.
Official sources reacted angrily to the development saying China’s actions exposed its “double speak and double standards” on the issue of terrorism and the global community’s shared battle against the menace.
“Such politically motivated actions by China in blocking the listing of Pak-based terrorists undermine the entire sanctity of the working methods of the UNSC Sanctions Committees,” said a source, adding it was unfortunate that the UNSC sanctions committee had been prevented from playing its role due to “political considerations”. China had blocked the listing of Masood Azhar too as global terrorist before finally relenting in 2019 under international pressure.
In Beijing, the decision to put a technical hold on the Abdul Rauf proposal, the Chinese foreign ministry said China needed more time to assess the “relevant applications”. India’s permanent representative to UN Ruchira Kamboj had only this week called for ending the practice of placing holds and blocks on listing requests against notorious terrorists without giving any justification, while slamming double standards in the fight against terrorism.
