New Delhi: India reacted sharply to China's action of formally blocking sanctions in the UN Security Council against Pakistan-based JeM chief and Pathankot terror mastermind Maulana Masood Azhar, saying it was confirmation of the “double standards” prevalent in the world community's fight against terrorism.
India also said it would continue to push forward with resolute determination “through the use of all options available with us to bring perpetrators of terrorist violence to justice. As a consequence of this decision, the UN Security Council has again been prevented from acting against the leader of a listed terrorist organisation. We had expected China would have been more understanding of the danger posed to all by terrorism and would join India and others in fighting the common challenge of terrorism,” a spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs said.
“The inability of the international community to list its leader Masood Azhar is an unfortunate blow to the concerted efforts to effectively counter all forms of terrorism, and confirms prevalence of double standards in the fight against terrorism,” he added. India, he said, was surprised by Beijing's reaction, since China was itself in the cross-hairs of international terrorism.
Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) is already under sanctions by the 1267 committee, but Masood Azhar remains out of that list, which would make it easier for Azhar to access funds and travel more freely.
With China blocking New Delhi's proposal just a day before expiry of Beijing's “technical hold”, the proposal now will go into cold storage said officials, until a new listing is proposed. That would probably be done in the coming weeks by India. India also plans to list other terrorists on the committee, which would leave China with no choice but to continue to support Pakistan and keep blocking terror leaders from sanctions.
China had twice imposed “technical hold” on the Indian proposal since its submission. After the meeting of NSA Ajit Doval and China's state councillor, Yang Jiechi on November 5, China indicated clearly there would be no change in its approach to Masood Azhar. But an MEA statement after the meeting had said, both sides agreed that the “forthcoming high level engagement in counter-terrorism field is yet another manifestation of growing convergence of views of two countries on this pressing challenge facing international community.”
