Unfazed by China placing a “technical hold” on classifying Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Masood Azhar as a terrorist by the sanctions committee of the United Nations, India is ready with cases of other JeM individuals to place before the panel.
India believes that China, by siding with ally Pakistan, is turning a multilateral issue into a bilateral one given that the JeM is known to have interests beyond South Asia and was listed as a terrorist group by the U.N. in 2001 due to its linkages with al-Qaeda and Taliban.
“The cases of more individuals linked to the Jaish will be taken before the sanctions committee to designate them as terrorists,” a senior official dealing with the issue told The Hindu on Thursday.
“The Chinese don’t look good by siding with the Pakistanis on the issue. After all, we are talking about designating individuals. It is not a government-to-government issue at all,” the official said.
Also, the Indian action to designate Azhar as a terrorist was co-sponsored by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, revealing that Delhi was not alone in its efforts.
A “technical hold” on designating Azhar was placed by the Chinese earlier this month.
Simultaneously, India is engaging China on Azhar by talking to Pakistan at the just-concluded Foreign Secretary-level interaction in Delhi. China had publicly suggested that India hold direct talks with Pakistan on the issue.
“He [Indian Foreign Secretary] also brought up the listing of JeM leader Masood Azhar in the U.N. 1267 Sanctions Committee,” an official statement said after the talks, a reference that tells the Chinese that their request has been complied with.
On Pakistani response to the Azhar issue at the talks, a South Block official said: “They heard us out.”
A “technical hold” in the 15-member sanctions committee remains valid for six months following which a decision to block or proceed with the proposed action must be conveyed to the secretariat.
