China blocks US-India bid to list Masood's brother 'global terrorist'

Sandeep Dikshit

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 11

China has blocked a joint India-US proposal at the UN Security Council to list as global terrorist a top commander in the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group. All other 14 member states of the UNSC were supportive of the listing proposal, said diplomats here.

The Chinese hold on the listing of Abdul Rauf Asghar, deputy chief of the JeM and younger brother of Masood Azhar, took place a day after India’s Permanent Representative at the UN Ruchira Kamboj expressed surprise that the UN Secretary General’s report did not take notice of the activities of the several proscribed groups in the region, especially those that have been repeatedly targeting India.

Coincidentally, a few hours after the Chinese hold, cross-border terrorists attacked an Army camp in J&K, killing four soldiers.

The second Chinese hold on the global listing of a terrorist in three months took place after Kamboj said it was most regrettable that genuine and evidence-based listing proposals pertaining to some of the most notorious terrorists in the world were being blocked. Abdul Rauf is involved in the planning and execution of numerous terror attacks, including the hijacking of Indian Airlines aircraft IC814 (1999), the attack on Parliament (2001) and the attack on the IAF base in Pathankot (2016). In June 2022, China placed on hold a joint proposal by India and the US to list Lashkar-e-Toiba deputy chief Abdul Rehman Makki, who has been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalising youth to resort to violence and planning attacks in India, including that in Mumbai.

“There is incontrovertible evidence for both these listing proposals. It is unfortunate that the sanctions committee has been prevented from playing its role due to political considerations. China’s actions expose its doublespeak and double standards when it comes to the international community’s shared battle against terrorism,” said sources here.

Such politically motivated actions by China, in nearly every listing case of a Pakistan-based terrorist, undermine the entire sanctity of the working methods of the UNSC Sanctions Committees, they said.

The “technical hold” can last for up to six months at a time. In June, sources here had described the Chinese move as “extremely unfortunate given the overwhelming evidence against Makki. Moreover, it runs counter to China’s claims of combating terrorism”.

Earlier too China has placed hurdles for the listing of known terrorists. It had repeatedly blocked proposals to designate JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.