Recently, China blocked a proposal by India and the USA at the United Nations to blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar, the brother of Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar and the deputy chief of the Pakistan based terrorist group. Beijing put a hold on the proposal, a day after India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj told a Security Council meeting chaired by China that the practice of placing holds and blocks on listing requests without giving any justification must end and asserted that the credibility of the sanctions regime was at an all-time low.
This move by China has infuriated the diplomatic corridors of New Delhi. India holds China guilty of double standards on the issue of terrorism and believes China is acting as per its political considerations. The Chinese stand has undermined the sanctity of such mechanisms. A proposal was moved by India, co-sponsored by the US, to list Abdul Rauf Asghar in the UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committ-ee. China has, however, placed a technical hold on the proposal. All the other 14 member states of the UN Security Council were supportive of the listing proposal. Upon being designated as a global terrorist, Rauf will be under the scrutiny of global sanctions, assets freeze, travel bans and an arms embargo.
This is the second time in less than two months that China has put a hold on a listing by the US and India to blacklist a Pakistan-based terrorist under the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council. In June this year, China had put a hold, at the last moment, on a joint proposal by India and the US to list Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under the 1267 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.
The US department of treasury had in December 2010 designated "Abdul Rauf Azhar, a senior leader of Jaish-e Mohammed (JeM), for acting for or on behalf of JeM." The US said as a senior leader of JeM, Abdul Rauf Azhar "has urged Pakistanis to engage in militant activities. He has served as JeM's acting leader in 2007, as one of JeM's most senior commanders in India, and as JeM's intelligence coordinator."
During the UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday, Ms Kamboj had said that the practice of placing holds and blocks on listing requests without giving any justification must end. "An effective functioning of the Sanctions Committees requires them to become more transparent, accountable and objective. The practice of placing holds and blocks on listing requests without giving any justification must end," Ms Kamboj said.
She also said, "It is most regrettable that genuine and evidence-based listing proposals pertaining to some of the most notorious terrorists in the world are being placed on hold. "Double standards and continuing politicisation have rendered the credibility of the sanctions regime at an all-time low. We do hope that all members of the UNSC can pronounce together in one voice, sooner than later, when it comes to this collective fight against international terrorism," she had said.
A veto wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, China was the sole country to hold out. in the 15-nation body on the bid to blacklist Azhar, blocking attempts by placing a "technical hold". All decisions of the committee are taken by consensus. In 2009, India had moved a proposal by itself to designate Azhar.
However, as witnessed by the international community earlier, China withdrew its technical hold to designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. The same can be witnessed again by the international community as Pakistan remains adamant to keep its economy afloat and receive economic and financial aid. Moreover, China's stance vis-a-vis this particular issue shouldn't be seen in isolation. The move has elements of China's alliance with Pakistan than China's bid to act against India.
