China set to block Azhar ban defying US, India
NEW DELHI/BEIJING: Despite India making multiple formal approaches to China over the United Nations designating Jaish-e-mohammed (JEM) emir Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, Beijing is all set to bury a US proposal to the effect on November 2 by blocking it yet again in the Security Council.
Fourteen of 15 countries in the Council are supporting the proposal except China, according to an Indian official.
China’s ministry of foreign affairs (MFA) said on Monday that the Security Council was yet to reach a consensus on the matter and that more time was required to discuss the move to designate Azhar an international terrorist.
China’s position isn’t a new one. Late last year, the country said it was unhappy with the language of the New Delhi’s proposal on Maulana Masood Azhar in the UN. Subsequently, the Indian mission to the UN in New York tried to find common ground on the issue with its Chinese counterpart, according to the Indian official cited above who asked not to be identified.
India’s foreign secretary, too, sought to convince China’s ambassador to India. None of it worked and in December, China blocked the proposal in the UN.
In January, the US moved a similar proposal. But Beijing put a technical hold on it in the first 10 days, then extended it by six, and then another three months.
The US proposal comes before the Council on November 2 and China is expected to permanently block it. “Our assessment is that China will finally block the proposal even though it has not officially communicated this to the UN body as of now,” the official added.
China’s ministry of foreign affairs cited lack of “solid proof” against Azhar, said to be the mastermind behind the terror attack at an army base in India last year, as the reason, adding that it backs Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts. “China raised the technical hold so as to allow more time for parties to deliberate on the matter. To our regret, the committee is yet to reach a consensus,” Hua Chunying, MFA spokesperson said at the regular ministry briefing on Monday.
The Chinese position is being seen as not just backing for its allweather ally Pakistan but also aimed at disrupting India’s involvement in the ongoing Afghanistan stabilisation plan.
“China always upholds the principle of objectivity and fairness and we judge the matter on its own merit. Pakistan is also a victim of terrorism and we support them in countering terrorism, in accordance with its own national conditions,” she said at the briefing.