New Delhi, Aug 12: India on Friday expressed its displeasure against China over blocking its bid at UN to blacklist JeM deputy chief Abdul Rauf Azhar as "global terrorist" and said there should be no double standards in dealing with terrorists.
Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), noted with "regret" that a technical hold had been placed on the listing proposal for Abdul Rauf Asghar. "It is unfortunate that the international community has been unable to speak in one common voice on our collective battle against terrorism. There should be no double standards in dealing with terrorists. The practice of placing holds and blocks without giving any justification must end," he said.
To a media query, the MEA spokesperson said it is most regrettable that "genuine and evidence-based listing proposals" pertaining to some of the most notorious terrorists in the world are being placed on hold. "Double standards and continuing politicisation have rendered credibility of sanctions committee at an all-time low," he added.
China blocks India-US proposal to list Pak-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under UNSC sanctions
China has blocked the proposal by the US and India at the UN Security Council to designate Pakistan-based JeM's deputy chief Abdul Rauf Azhar as a global terrorist and subject him to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, PTI sources said and added that all other 14 member states of the top UN body supported the move
Brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, Abdul Rauf, born in 1974 in Pakistan, has been involved in planning and executing numerous terror strikes in India including the hijacking of Indian Airlines aircraft IC814 in 1999, the attack on the Parliament in 2001 and the targeting of the IAF base in Pathankot in 2016.
This is the second time in less than two months that China has put a hold on a listing by the US and India to blacklist a Pakistan-based terrorist under the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council.
In June this year, China had put a hold, at the last moment, on a joint proposal by India and the US to list Pakistan-based deputy leader of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba Abdul Rehman Makki under the 1267 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council. Makki is a US-designated terrorist and brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba head and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed.