‘Will continue fight against terror’

Chinese finance minister soon to visit India for trilateral talks

Following China’s blockage to list Jaish-eMohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, New Delhi said that Beijing’s actions would not deter India from fighting terrorism.

But it seems Beijing’s latest snub will not deter dialogue too with New Delhi. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi is expected to visit New Delhi in the next few weeks for the trilateral Russia-India-China (RIC) dialogue, said sources.

New Delhi said that Pakistan has not made any effort to dismantle the terror network on its soil, adding that humanitarian measures such as release of fishermen should not be construed as a move towards dialogue with Pakistan.

“I think the decision by a country to block a consensus should not be seen as an end to our counterterrorism efforts. What is important is that it does not, in any way, take away our resolve to fight terrorism,” ministry of external affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.

Sources said, India has been taking up the Azhar issue earlier at the highest levels of the Chinese government. Meanwhile, New Delhi said it had sought consular access to Indian prisoner Nehal Ansari from Pakistan but no success.

China had said, “There is no consensus within the members of the sanctions committee.” All other 14 of the 15 members of the UN Security Council had supported the move by the US and France. A new resolution will have to be moved to UN but may turn futile as China seems intent on sending a message to all those who did not back Azhar. This was the second year in succession that China blocked the resolution.

MEA said, “We are deeply disappointed that once again, a single country has blocked international consensus on the designation of an acknowledged terrorist...”