Masood Azhar declared as global terrorist after China lifts objection

Mangaloretoday News Network

UNO, New York, May 01, 2019:  a major diplomatic win for India, the United Nations on Wednesday designated Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist after China lifted its technical hold on his listing under the UNSC 1267 sanctions committee.

The designation will subject Azhar to an assets freeze, travel ban and an arms embargo. The JeM has already been designated as a terror outfit by the United Nations.

"Big, small, all join together. Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist in UN sanctions list. Grateful to all for their support," India’s Ambassador to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.

France, one of the sponsors of the proposal to list Azhar as a global terrorist at the UN, was the first country to welcome the move. "This decision taken at the United Nations Security Council signals the successful realisation of our efforts," the French Foreign Ministry said.

The development comes a month after China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, had put a hold on a fresh proposal by the US, UK and France to impose a ban on the chief of the JeM, which claimed responsibility for the deadly Pulwama terror attack where 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

The proposal was the fourth such bid at the UN in the last 10 years to list Azhar as a global terrorist. China had blocked Azhar’s listing in 2009, 2016 and 2017.

Interestingly, China had placed its technical hold despite Beijing signing off on a UNSC statement that "condemned in the strongest terms" the Pulwama terror attack and named Jaish-e-Mohammad for the "heinous and cowardly suicide bombing".

The efforts to resolve Azhar’s listing issue had gathered momentum in the past month as Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale spoke to his counterparts in all key UNSC member countries and visited Washington and Beijing.