China opposes India proposal in UN to blacklist JeM terrorist

UNITED NATIONS: China has objected to a proposal by India to blacklist senior Pakistan based Jaish-e-Muhammed (JeM) terrorist Abdul Rauf Azhar at the United Nations Security Council.

Brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar, Abdul Rauf, has been involved in planning and executing terror strikes in India, including the hijacking of Indian Airlines aircraft IC814 in 1999, the attack on Parliament in 2001 and the targeting of the Pathankot IAF base in 2016.

China objected to the proposal from India to add Abdul Rauf of the JeM to the UNSC’s 1267 ISIL and al-Qaida sanctions list. Rauf Azhar was sanctioned by the US in 2010.

Last year, Chinahad put a hold on the proposal by India and the US to designate Rauf Azhar as a global terrorist and subject him to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. It had last year also put holds on proposals to blacklist Pakistanbased terrorists Hafiz Talah Saeed, LeT leaders Shahid Mahmood and Sajid Mir under al-Qaida sanctions list.