China to lift its hold to designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist

Guwahati: According to a report, China is expected to lift its hold on blacklisting Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad Chief Masood Azhar at a UN Sanctions Committee on May 1 paving the way for further global financial sanctions against the banned group.

A senior official of UNSC said that Azhar's designation as a global terrorist would be a major diplomatic victory for the Narendra Modi government which has been pushing for the move particularly since the Pulwama terror attack which took place on February 14, 2019.

He further informed that May Day is going to be the death knell for Masood Azhar as he will be designated as a global terrorist by the UN's Islamic State and al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee with Beijing caving into the global demand led by the US, France and the UK that the main orchestrator of the Pulwama attack be brought to book.

A proposal was sent to China by the UK, US and France on March 13 to designate Azhar as a global terrorist which is now expected to lift the technical hold with all other Security Council members approving the move.

The other members of the UN Security Council led by the US have made it clear that time was running out for China although there were reports suggesting that Beijing wanted to lift the hold around May 15.

The United States, the United Kingdom and France moved a proposal at the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee to designate Azhar as a global terrorist soon after the Pulwama suicide attack on the CRPF jawans.

Members of the committee who are the same as the 15 members of the Security Council had ten working days to raise objections to the proposal and on the final day of March 13, China placed a hold on the proposal saying that they need more time to discuss the matter.

China blocked the designation of the JeM Chief for the fourth time which was prescribed by the UN in October 2001.

The US principal deputy assistant secretary of the state for South and Central Asia, Alice Wells during her visit to India last week said to her Indian interlocutors that Washington was looking for action against Azhar in the near term.

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