India hit back at China for its “doublespeak” and “double standards” in the fight against terrorism
As China again blocked a move at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) deputy chief Abdul Rauf Azhar as a “global terrorist,” India on Thursday hit back saying it exposed its “doublespeak” and “double standards” in the fight against terrorism. It was the second time in the last few weeks, that China blocked such a move. India’s protest came a day after a joint bid by India and the US to black Abdul Rauf, the younger brother of JeM founder Masood Azhar, was blocked by China by placing a “technical hold” on the proposal. Beijing said more time was needed to study the issue. All other 14 members of the UNSC supported the move.
“It is unfortunate that the sanctions committee has been prevented from playing its role due to political considerations. China’s actions expose its doublespeak and double standards when it comes to the international community’s shared battle against terrorism,” said Indian diplomats. Blacklisting of Abdul Rauf would have resulted in a global travel ban on him as well as requiring Pakistan to freeze his assets and to cut off his access to weapons and related materials.
The latest Chinese action came less than a month after Beijing blocked a similar joint proposal by India and the US to blacklist Pakistan-based deputy leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) Abdul Rehman Makki. The LeT’s deputy leader Makki too has been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalizing youths to resort to violence, and planning and executing attacks in India for the past 15 years.
The proposal to blacklist Abdul Rauf was moved by India and the US in the UN SC 1267 Sanctions Committee. Indian officials have had “incontrovertible evidence” for both these listing proposals. In the past, China repeatedly blocked proposals to designate Maulana Masood Azhar.
Makki is the head of the political affairs of LeT and Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and served as head of LeT’s foreign relations department. The LeT has been involved in major attacks in India such as the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, Red Fort Attack in 2000, Rampur Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp attack in January 2008, Khanpora (Baramulla) attack in 2018, Srinagar attack in June 2018 and Gurez/ Bandipora attack in 2018.
Countering the latest move to blacklist, China said “We placed a hold because we need more time to study the case. Placing holds is provided for by the committee guidelines, and there have been quite a number of similar holds by committee members on listing requests,” a spokesperson for China’s mission to the UN told Reuters, referring to the Security Council’s sanctions committee.
While addressing a UN Security Council meeting on threats of terrorist acts on Tuesday, India’s envoy to the UN, Ruchira Kamboj, had, without naming Pakistan or China, spoken out against “double standards in dealing with terrorists” and the politicization of the sanctions regime. She also said the “practice of placing holds and blocks on listing requests without giving any justification must end”.
The technical hold, which can last for up to six months under the Security Council’s procedures, effectively blocks proposals to designate terrorists until the measure is withdrawn by the country that placed it. In the past, China blocked proposals to designate JeM chief Masood Azhar at the UN sanctions committee at least four times over the course of a decade by using technical holds. At the time, Beijing had contended this was done as more information was required about Azhar’s activities.
The designation of a terrorist by the UN Security Council requires the country where the person is based to take three steps – freezing of funds and financial assets, enforcing a travel ban, and cutting off access to weapons and related materials. China has come to the rescue of Pakistan at least six times in the last one decade on the issue of blacklisting terrorists based on its soil in the UNSC. Beijing thwarted the move four times in the last ten years to designate JeM chief Maulana Masood Azhar as a global terrorist using the technical hold way. In late June this year, China again blocked the blacklisting of LeT deputy leader Abdul Rehman Makki. Similarly, the India-US move to designate Abdul Rauf Azhar on Wednesday met the same fate.
In June this year, China 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.
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What to expect from China – a red carpet ? First bomb Pakistan relentlessly & destroy all their bases. Do not return the occupied land i.e. do not be like Pritviraj to retain & then get killed later. Things will fall in line forever.