Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj cornered Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow, at the 14th RIC meet, with the issue of Beijing blocking India's attempt to place Pakistan-based militant Maulana Masood Azhar on a UN sanctions list for terrorists.
Swaraj raised the issue at a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of talks between the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China. She “emphasised that as common victims of terrorism, China and India should cooperate in combating this challenge. It was agreed that the two sides would remain in touch on this matter,” said spokesperson Vikas Swarup. Azhar is chief of militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, and the mind behind the 2 January terror attack on the Air Force base in Pathankot. He is believed to have close ties with Pakistani military establishment. The Chinese had vetoed India's stand at the UN last month.
Swarup said, “Both the ministers reviewed the state of bilateral ties and assessed the implementation of decisions taken during Prime Minister Modi's visit to China in May. The ministers appreciated the expanding trade and investment ties between India and China.” Terrorism was the topic of the hour and Swaraj spoke on the subject in her opening remarks at the meet. “India believes the foremost challenge to international security continues to be posed by international terrorism.” She warned the RIC countries saying they “must lead the way in getting the international community together to counter terrorism through joint action, including at the UN. If we continue to adopt double standards in dealing with terrorism, it will have serious consequences not just for our own countries, but the international community as a whole.”
In a similar line, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who was in Beijing on Monday, stressed on the Chinese military leadership on border transgressions stressing the need to resume the process of clarifying the Line of Actual Control. In a meeting with Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan at the PLA headquarters, he also expressed India's displeasure at China blocking the listing of Azhar at the UN Security Council sanctions committee. He said that “what happened in the UN was not the right direction that they have taken on terrorism because having a common line is in the interest of India and China both.”
