Pulwama attack: Time to break the block and have China’s bouncer, Maulana Azhar banned

Srinagar, Feb 15: India has on several occasions been blocked by India, while seeking a ban on Jaish-e-Mohammad chief, Maulana Masood Azhar. Attempts were made after the attack at Pathankot, Uri and Nagrota.

The ghastly attack at Pulwama in which 44 jawans were martyred only goes on to show why Azhar is so dangerous and a ban is the need of the hour.

China, while defending the terrorist has always argued that the issue lacks "consensus" among the members of the UN Security Council as well as the "directly concerned" parties - India and Pakistan.

Masood Azhar is accused of several deadly terrorist attacks in India, including one on the Uri military base in Jammu and Kashmir in 2016, in which 17 security personnel were killed.

China, being a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, has repeatedly blocked India's move. The US, Britain and France all back India to designate Masood Azhar a terrorist under the Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.

India has always faced the Chinese block when it came to Azhar. This is not the first time that China has said that it will not support the ban. While on one hand, it continues to block the ban at the behest of Pakistan, on the other side it has its own vested interests.

Officials explain that it is not just bilateral. China has called Pakistan an all-weather friend, while Azhar the man himself has called China the almighty. Apart from these aspects and the fact that Azhar guards China's assets in Pakistan, it is also to ensure that India does not become supreme in the region.

China would not like India having its say in the UN. China has also been instrumental in blocking India's NSG bid several times. It is a case of being supreme and throwing its clout around says an informed officer in New Delhi. The officer says that although all nations say it openly that the war against terror is important, the fact of the matter is that all are divided in their approach. There are different equations at play. The stakes in Afghanistan are very high. Russian President Vladimir Putin in fact changed the country's long standing policy against the US in Afghanistan. US was able to take over Afghanistan after Putin allowed the US set up base in Central Asia. China too has a major stake in Afghanistan and the recent statement by the Taliban in which it said it would not target infrastructure projects in Afghanistan is also significant. China has high stakes in Afghanistan and would not want that to be disturbed.

Any move in the UN on Azhar is likely to change China's equation with the Taliban which is considered to be close to the Jaish-e-Mohammad boss. More control in the UN for India would also tilt the balance against China. Officials explain that the reason for the block goes beyond the all weather friend or Azhar playing bouncer for Chinese investments in Pakistan theories. It is all about supremacy in the region, the officer also explains.