New Delhi: China on Wednesday once again blocked the UNSC move to proscribe Jaish-e-Mohammed Chief Masood Azhar , that was proposed by three permanent members of the Security Council- US, UK and the France, in  a major disappointment to India. This was the fourth time China, the all weather ally of Pakistan, vetoed the designation of Masood Azhar as an international terrorist- a move India has been demanding since long.

External Affairs Ministry said in a statement that India was disappointed and will continue to pursue all available avenues to ensure that terrorist leaders who are involved in heinous attacks on our citizens are brought to justice.

The 1267 Sanctions Committee was to decide on whether or not to pass the resolution to designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, on Wednesday upon the completion of the no-objection period. Jaish-e-Mohammed is already a UN proscribed terror outfit, however, its chief Masood Azhar after yesterday’s decision now remains out of the sanctions.

Ministry of External Affairs  said in a statement: “ The ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee (1267 Sanctions Committee), upon completion of the no-objection period on 13 March 2019, was not able to come to a decision on the proposal for listing Mohammed Masood Azhar Alvi under the UN Sanctions regime, on account of a member placing the proposal on hold.”

“We are disappointed by this outcome.  This has prevented action by the international community to designate the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a proscribed and active terrorist organization which has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on 14 February 2019”, the statement read.

“We are grateful for the efforts of the Member States who moved the designation proposal and the unprecedented number of all other Security Council members as well as non-members who joined as co-sponsors”, it said.

The proposal to designate Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council was moved by France, the UK and the US on February 27, in the wake of the ghastly terror attack in Pulwama perpetrated by a suicide bomber of Pakistan based jaish-e-Mohammed, which killed 40 CRPF soldiers.

The deadline for no objection to the listing of Azhar by UNSC was scheduled to end at 3 pm New York time on Wednesday, or 1.30 am Indian Standard Time on March 14.

However, Just before the deadline, China - a veto-wielding  member, put a "technical hold" on the proposal, a diplomat at the UN told PTI. The diplomat said China asked for "more time to examine" the proposal. The technical hold is valid for up to six months and it can be again extended by up to three months.

China has previously blocked three attempts to designate Azhar.  In 2009, India moved a proposal by itself to designate Azhar. In 2016 again India moved the proposal with the P3 - the United States, the United Kingdom and France in the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee to ban Azhar, also the mastermind of the attack on the air base in Pathankot in January, 2016.

In 2017, the P3 nations moved a similar proposal again. On all the occasions Chin blocked the move.