At UN, China delays India, US bid to sanction terrorist behind Kandahar hijacking

United Nations, Aug 11: China has blocked a bid in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to impose sanctions on Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Abdul Rauf Azhar.

India and the United States wanted Azhar to be designated as an international terrorist and be subjected to a global travel ban and freezing of his assets, a proposal that would need to be agreed by all members in the 15-nation UNSC body. But China, a permanent veto-wielding member of the UN and a close ally of Pakistan, delayed the move by putting a hold on it.

Reuters cited a spokesperson for China's mission to the United Nations as saying that the delay was done as China needed "more time to study the case."

"Placing holds is provided for by the Committee guidelines, and there have been quite a number of similar holds by Committee members on listing requests," the Chinese spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Azhar has been under US Sanctions since 2010 after the US accused him of urging Pakistanis to engage in terrorist activities and organise suicide attacks in India.

He was accused of being involved in the planning and execution of numerous terror attacks, including the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines aircraft in Afghanistan's Kandhar, the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament and the 2016 attack on the Indian air force base in Pathankot.

On Tuesday, India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj, in an apparent reference to China, said that the practice of placing holds and blocks on listing requests of terrorists without giving any justification must end.

India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ruchira Kamboj made these remarks during a UNSC debate on Tuesday on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.