Jaish chief Masood Azhar designated global terrorist in UN Sanctions list
NEW DELHI : In a major diplomatic victory for India on Wednesday, Jaish-e-Mohammad founder and Pakistani citizen Masood Azharhas finally been listed as an international terrorist by the United Nation Security Council’s 1267 committee. China, earlier on Wednesday, removed its hold on the listing of Masood Azhar, the man behind several terror attacks in India.
China, which had blocked moves to blacklist Masood Azhar four times, finally dropped its objections saying it “found no objection after a careful study of revised materials”. The UN decision means a freeze on Masood Azhar’s finances and assets, a travel ban and an arms embargo.China, which had blocked moves to blacklist Masood Azhar four times, finally dropped its objections saying it “found no objection after a careful study of revised materials”.
Reacting to the development, India’s permanent representative at the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin said that it is a significant success. “The chairperson of the UN Sanctions Committee did confirm to me that Masood Azhar is on the UN-sanctioned list. The efforts began in 2009.
With several efforts being put in, they have paid. It is a significant success. This is only the first step to counter terrorism. US, UK, France and many other countries came out in support of India’s effort of putting Masood Azhar on sanctioned list. The goal was set out 10 years ago,” he said.
The UN Security council resolution cites Masood Azhar’s association with al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and the Taliban and also his call for terror recruits to join the fight in Afghanistan against western forces. Masood Azhar’s Jaish-e-Mohammed was behind the Pulwama terror attack in which 40 soldiers were killed in February. In retaliation, India sent fighter jets to Pakistan’s Balakot to bomb a Jaish terror training camp weeks later.
In the aftermath of February 14, 2019, Pulwama terror attack in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were martyred, the US along with France and UK had moved a proposal to list Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. But on March 13, the last day for the listing of Azhar, China had put a technical hold on the proposal, citing that it needed more time to understand the issue around the man responsible for the death of hundreds of Indians in terror strikes. (With Agency Inputs ).
