DNA Special: How China’s blocking of blacklisting JeM terrorist at UNSC exposes its double standards

In what exposed a double-faced China on the issue of terrorism, the country thwarted India’s bid at the UN Security Council to ban dreaded Pakistani terrorist Abdul Rauf Azhar. 

Brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, Jaish-e-Mohammed deputy chief 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.

The joint resolution by India and the US sought blacklisting Azhar, freezing his properties and banning his travels. China, however, put a 'technical hold' on the joint proposal at the United Nations Security Council to designate Azhar as a global terrorist. China said it said hasn’t read the proposal yet and without understanding properly it will not take any action on this proposal.

The Security Council of the United Nations consists of a total of 15 members, of which five are permanent members while 10 are non-permanent members who are appointed only for two years. To pass any resolution, it requires the consent of all 15 members of the UNSC. 

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.

Makki too has been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalising youths to resort to violence and planning and executing attacks in India, including the Mumbai terror strikes.

In 2009, just after the 2008 Mumbai attacks, India had proposed for the first time in the UNSC to ban Masood Azhar and declare him a global terrorist. However, China used Veto power to stop that proposal from being passed.

In 2016, after the terrorist attack on the Indian Air Force Station in Pathankot, India, along with America, Britain and France, had presented a resolution against Masood Azhar in the UNSC for the second time, but China again thwarted the bid.

India presented a proposal for the third time in the year 2017 to ban Masood Azhar, but this time too China used Veto power to stop the proposal from being passed.

After the terrorist attack on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama in the year 2019, India had presented a resolution against Masood Azhar for the fourth time. It was then that Azhar was finally declared as a global terrorist.