China put a technical
hold in March on a fresh proposal to impose a ban on the head of Pakistan-based
JeM which claimed responsibility for the deadly Pulwama terror attack.
Citing “some progress” on the issue of listing of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as a terrorist at the UN Security Council, China indicated on Tuesday that it was willing to change its decade-old stand opposing the move.
“The relevant consultations
are going on within the committee and have achieved some progress,” said
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang, adding that he believed the
issue of Azhar’s listing, which was put on hold by Beijing on March 13, “can be
properly resolved.”
Diplomatic sources confirmed
to media that Masood Azhar could be placed on
the UNSC’s 1267 Committee’s list of sanctioned individuals and entities as
early as Wednesday, once China formally intimated its decision to lift the
hold, which it placed on a proposal initiated by the U.S., the U.K, and France
after the Pulwama attack in February this year.
May 1
deadline
A UN diplomat in New York
told media that a silence period (during which
objections may be raised), which kicked off on April 23, would end at 9 a.m.
(New York time) on May 1.
The UNSC 1267 panel last met
to discuss the designation of Masood Azhar as a terrorist on April 23, when
China and the U.S. disagreed on when the listing would go through, the diplomat
said.
While China wanted to hold
off on the decision until mid-May, the U.S. did not want to wait beyond April
23 to wrap up the process to list Azhar.
Asked specifically about a
newspaper report that the listing would be done on May 1, Mr. Geng said, “China
is still working with the relevant parties and we are in contact with all
relevant parties within the 1267 Committee and I believe with the efforts of
all parties, this will be properly resolved.”
The Ministry of External
Affairs did not comment on the report, as an official said the government would
“wait for the decision” before making any statement.
The listing of Masood Azhar,
who’s organisation JeM was listed in 2001, has been pending for more than a
decade.
This is the fourth attempt by countries at the UNSC and India to
bring Azhar under UN sanctions . China had vetoed each of the previous
proposals citing it had not received enough evidence against Azhar, who was
released in 1999 during the IC-814 hijacking in exchange for hostages.
Diplomatic sources said
China’s turnaround came after Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale’s visit to
Beijing last week, where India shared details of all the evidence on Masood
Azhar, including links to the February 14 Pulwama attack for which the JeM had
claimed responsibility. American, British and French diplomats had been
pursuing the case with China, even threatening to bring the listing proposal to
the entire UNSC for a vote if China refused to relent.
Optimistic
note
On Friday, British High
Commissioner to India Dominic Asquith said he was “optimistic” that the
proposal would go through shortly.
In an interview on Monday,
Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal said Pakistan was “willing
to discuss the listing”, but rejected evidence of Azhar’s links to the Pulwama
attack.
