‘Beijing’s stand on Masood doing harm to China-India ties’

Washington : The recent decision by China to block a bid at the United Nations to list Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militant group, as a global terrorist, is doing “material harm” to its ties with India, top American experts said on Tuesday. Last week, China had blocked a bid at the United Nations by the US, France, and Britain to list Azhar as a global terrorist, citing a lack of consensus among the members of the UN Security Council. A veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has repeatedly blocked India’s move to designate Azhar a terrorist under the Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council. “I think it’s an unfortunate move on China’s part and I question the logic of continuing to block sanctions on known Pakistan-based terrorists at the United Nations,” Jeff Smith from the Heritage Foundation told PTI. Smith said that China was “clearly” seeing its action as a favor to its all-weather friend, Pakistan.