US responds over China's blocking Masood Azhar listing at UNSC terror list
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ISLAMABAD - China blocked the listing of Pakistan Masood Azhar on United Nations terror list.
Masood Azhar is the chief of UN-listed terror group Jaish e Mohammad (JeM), the group responsible for the 14th February Pulwama terror attack that killed more than 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Chinese foreign spokesperson replying to a question on the rationale of Beijing hold said the country needs more time to study the case.
Lu Kang, spokesperson for Chinese foreign ministry said, "China conducted a comprehensive and in-depth evaluation on the listing applications submitted by the countries concerned in the 1267 Committee. We still need more time and thus put forward a technical hold, which is in full compliance with the rules of procedure of the 1267 Committee of the Security Council."
Reiterating what Beijing said on Wednesday, the deadline day when listing of Masood Azhar, Kang said, "We sincerely hope that the relevant actions of the 1267 Committee can help the countries concerned to resolve the issue through dialogue and consultation and avoid adding complex factors that endanger peace and stability of the region."
India has already expressed its disappointment on China's "hold" to Azhar's listing.
The United States embassy in Delhi in a statement expressed regret. The US said, "With respect to China, the United States and China share a mutual interest in achieving regional stability and peace, and a failure to designate Azhar runs counter to this goal."
US had already made it clear that Masood Azhar is the founder and leader of and "clearly meets the criteria for designation" by the United Nations.
JeM has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks including the 2001 Parliament attack, Pathankote attack and the Pulwama terror attack.
During foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale's meet with US National security Advisor John Bolton terrorism emanating from Pakistan was discussed.
