India
In a 15-minute long sermon, the 50-year-old can be heard saying that JeM would conduct "further attacks" on India.
Updated : Mar 14, 2019, 05:05 AM IST
India has provided the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) a dossier containing recent audio recordings of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar in which he can be heard spewing venom against the nation, say sources.
He can be heard calling the February 14 attack on CRPF convoy in Pulwama, which killed 40 personnel, "only the first dose".
In a 15-minute long sermon, the 50-year-old can be heard saying that JeM would conduct "further attacks" on India. "Pakistan and Kashmir are not separate entities," he says, "Kashmiris say Kashmir is part of Pakistan, but I say Pakistan is part of Kashmir."
He further goes on to say that "if Kashmir is not surrendered, fire will reach Delhi, Mumbai, Lucknow and subsequently engulf the entire country".
This comes even as UNSC decides the fate of the proposal to designate Azhar as a 'global terrorist' in the wee hours of Thursday.
Pakistan-based Azhar is believed to be the mastermind and planner behind many terror strikes in India, including the 2001 attack J&K Assembly which killed 31 and on Parliament the same year, the strike on Pathankot air force base in 2016, and the assault on Army camp in Uri in 2018 that claimed 18 soldiers.
After the terror attack in Pulwama, India launched a major diplomatic offensive against Islamabad, holding briefing for envoys of 25 countries, including from the five permanent UNSC members — USA, China, Russia, UK and France – to highlight Pakistan's role in using terrorism as an instrument of state policy. India also gave Pakistan a dossier on "specific details" of JeM's involvement in the Pulwama attack.
Three permanent members of the UNSC – USA, Britain and France – moved a resolution to designate Azhar as a global terrorist under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UNSC.
Days before the Azhar's possible listing, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Washington, and later said Pompeo expressed his "understanding" of India's concerns on cross-border terrorism.
A UNSC designation of "global terrorist" for Azhar will subject him freezing his assets, travel ban and arms embargo.
Azhar, head of JeM, says fire will engulf india in a 15 min-long sermon