A day after China stalled a proposal to designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the United Nations, an upset India said it hoped that countries sharing its concerns over international terrorism would cooperate in fighting all forms of terror.
The fresh proposal to list Masood in the UN sanctions list backed by United States of America, France and United Kingdom was moved in February which China had stalled by putting a technical hold that was to expire on August 2. However, China has now extended its technical hold for another three months.
Azhar is the chief of Pakistan based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed and apart from carrying out other terror activities against India, he was involved in the recent attack on Pathankot airbase. JeM is already banned by the UN Sanctions Committee but Azhar is escaping the ban with the help of China which is the only country in the 15 member UN sanctions committee that is shielding this Pak-based terrorist using its veto power even as all other countries favour of sanctioning him.
“JeM chief Azhar had been involved in carrying out terror activities against India and this was a well-known fact. We can only hope that all these countries which share our concerns regarding the menace of international terrorism will cooperate in fighting all forms of terrorism,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said on Friday.
India has insisted that part from Azhar all such terrorists including lashkar e Taiyabba chief Hafiz Saeed should be banned universally. Mastermind of the 26/11/2008 Mumbai terror attack, Saeed’s is now heading a new outfit -- Jamat ut Dawa - and is currently under house arrest in Pakistan. He is trying to rebrand his party into a political outfit called Milli Muslim league Pakistan.
“All such people and outfits need to be banned by the UN 1267 sanctions committee. Such freedom to these people is a matter of concern for us and other countries. It is ironic that Hafiz Saeed is trying to cover his blood-stained hands with ballot ink. We are concerned about this. After using bullets to kill does he want to hide behind the ballotIJ His activities should be contained by Pakistan and should be allowed to get into political activities,” Baglay said.