China blocks move on Azhar yet again

China on Thursday blocked another bid by the US, France and the UK to list Pakistanbased JeM chief and Pathankot terror attack mastermind Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN, saying it has rejected the move as "there is no consensus".

A veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, China has repeatedly blocked India's move to put a ban on the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief under the Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council.

The JeM, founded by Azhar, is already in the UN's list of banned terror outfits. China had in August extended by three months its

technical hold on the US, France and UK-backed proposal to blacklist Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN, after having blocked the move in February this year at the Unit- ed Nations.

"China has rejected the move as there is no consensus," sources in the Chinese Foreign Ministry told PTI here. The comment came as the China's technical hold on a proposal by the US, France and Britain to list Azhar as a global terrorist was set to lapse today.

The official's comment indicates that China will veto the application in the 1267 Committee of the UN Security Council to allow it to lapse.

This is the second year in succession that China has blocked the resolution. Last year, China had done the same to stall India's application before the same Committee. Ear- lier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua

Chunying told a media briefing: "we raised a technical hold so as to allow more time for the committee and its members to deliberate on this matter. But there is still absence of consensus on this matter."

Hua's remarks indicate that China will continue its policy to block moves by India and other countries led by the US to block Azhar's listing during the second term of Chinese President Xi Jinping, which began over a week ago.

China in the past had asked India to discuss the issue directly with Pakistan in order to reach an understanding on Azhar's listing.