India slams use of 'hidden veto' in sanctioning terrorists

Days after China blocked its bid at the UN to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar, India today slammed use of "hidden veto" and demanded accountability, saying the world body's general members are never informed of the reason for not acceding to requests for sanctioning terrorists.

"The procedures of unanimity and anonymity of the Al Qaeda, Taliban and ISIS Sanctions Committees need to be revisited. The procedures of unanimity and anonymity result in a lack of accountability," India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin told the UN Security Council in an open debate on 'Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts' here.

Against the backdrop of China last month again blocking India's bid to ban the mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack Masood in the UN Sanctions Committee, Akbaruddin said each of the 15 members in the committee now have a veto.

Without naming China, he said none except these 15 members are told of who is it that has wielded the veto in a specific instance.

"The general membership of the UN is never ever formally informed of how and why requests for listing terrorists are not acceded to. Counter terror mechanisms such as the Sanctions Committees that act on behalf of the international community need to build trust not engender impunity by the use of this form of a 'hidden veto'," Akbaruddin said.

After the attack on the airbase in Pathankot in January, India had in February written to the UN calling for immediate action to list the chief of the Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) under the UN Sanctions Committee.

The Indian submission was considered by the Counter- Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) for technical aspects of the evidence provided.

The technical team then with the support of the US, UK and France had sent it to all the members, sources had said.

All were told that if there are no objections, the designation will be announced after the expiry of the deadline but just hours before the deadline, China requested the UN committee to keep on hold the designation.

When asked at a briefing earlier this month as to why China had put a hold on the listing request by India against Azhar, Chinese envoy and President of the Security Council for the month liu Jieyi had said that any listing would have to meet the requirements, stressing that it was the Council members' responsibility to ensure that the criteria were followed.