Some hours after China blocked a United Nations Security Council sanctions committee move to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist”, the UNSC has on Thursday warned that they “may be forced to pursue other actions” at the council if China continues to block the move with their policy.
According to news reports, a UNSC diplomat was quoted by PTI news agency as saying, “If China continues to block this designation, responsible member-states may be forced to pursue other actions at the Security Council. It shouldn’t have to come to that.”
Beijing has blocked the UN move on grounds that it needed additional time to examine the sanction request on JeM chief Masood Azhar, according to the diplomat.
The resolution on Masood Azhar was moved by three permanent members of Security Council – the US, France and the United Kingdom – after a deadly suicide bombing attack in Jammu and Kashmir – Pulwama terror attack – which has claimed the lives of 44 CRPF personnel on February 14.
An another UNSC diplomat was quoted as saying: “This is the fourth time that China has placed a hold on this listing. China should not prevent the Committee from doing the job the Security Council has entrusted it to do.”
The envoy said, “China’s move to hold the listing is inconsistent with its own stated goals of combating terrorism and furthering regional stability in South Asia.”
The diplomat has accused Pakistan of harbouring terrorism while depending on China to protect terror outfits operating from the Pakistani soil. It said, “Pakistan has quite often depended on China to protect it from the listing of Pakistan-based terrorist groups and individuals in the UN 1267 sanctions committee.”
“The case for designating Masood Azhar – the leader of a group the UN already calls an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist organization – is undeniable,” the diplomat said.