China extends hold on Masood Azhar's terror listing

China has again extended by three months its technical hold on the United States, France and United Kingdom-backed proposal to designate Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the United Nations.

China had in February this year blocked the US move to designate Azhar, the Pathankot terror attack mastermind, as a global terrorist at the UN.

The deadline for China to take action on its technical hold was till August 2.

If China would not have extended the technical hold, Azhar would have automatically been designated under the UN as a terrorist.

Sources told PTI here that just before the deadline lapsed, China once again sought a three-month extension until November 2 on its technical hold on the proposal.

A veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, Beijing has repeatedly blocked India's move to put a ban on the Jaish-e Mohammed leader under the Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council. JeM has already been in the banned
list.

Last year in March, China was the sole member in the 15-nation UN organ to put a hold on India's application with all other 14 members of the Council supporting New Delhi's bid to place Azhar on the 1267 sanctions list that would subject him to an assets freeze and travel ban.

The six-month validity of that technical hold lapsed in September and Beijing then extended it by three more months.

In December last year, after China blocked India's proposal to list the JeM chief, Indian diplomatic sources at UN had said that the pursuit of terrorism was not a 'one-shot affair' for India and that it will continue to pursue issues of terrorism 'through all available mechanisms'.

Sources had said that the block would not prevent India from pursuing at the world body issues of terrorism and sanctioning of leaders of terror outfits.

China views Pakistan as its all-weather friend and has been backing its bid to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.