China claims 'positive progress' in blacklisting of Masood Azhar; slams US over UNSC resolution

"China has been working with various parties and is making progress. The US knows that very well and yet, it insists on pushing the Security Council to adopt the draft resolution," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said.

Masood Azhar (Source: AFP)

Chinese foreign ministry said that the UN 1267 committee should be the sole forum where Azhar’s listing should be discussed.

It said the US'move cannot be justified and is not in accordance with the rules and practices of the Security Council.

China claimed that “positive progress” has been made on blacklisting Azhar.

New Delhi: China on Monday rejected US’approach of designating the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar through a resolution taken directly to the United Nations’ Security Council and claimed that “positive progress” has been made on blacklisting Azhar. It accused the States of setting a bad example at the apex organisation. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told media on Monday that the UN 1267 committee should be the sole forum where Azhar’s listing should be discussed. He said that after the application for designation Azhar was proposed (in the 1267 committee), China is in close communication and coordination with various parties and made positive progress. The US knows that very well. Lashing out at the US for taking the Azhar issue to the UNSC from the 1267 Committee which also functioned under UNSC framework, Geng claimed support from majority of UNSC members to China's stand that the issue should be resolved by the 1267 Committee. "We hope various parties will meet each other half way and continue to properly solve this issue under the 1267 Committee framework. Last Friday, UNSC members exchanged views on the US proposed draft resolution. The majority believes that efforts should be made to solve the issues under 1267 Committee framework," he said. "They are not in favour of forcing the draft resolution. China has been working with various parties and is making progress. The US knows that very well and yet, it insists on pushing the Security Council to adopt the draft resolution," he said. "This cannot be justified and is not in accordance with the rules and practices of the Security Council. It is setting a bad example that will only complicate the matter. It is also not conducive for peace and stability in South Asia. China is opposed to this," he said. On Thursday, about two weeks after China vetoed the UN blacklisting of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, a fresh move was pushed on Wednesday by the US, Britain and France for the UNSC to designate the JeM chief.  The US circulated a resolution-drafted with British and  and French support - to the 15-member council that would designate JeM leader Masood Azhar, subjecting him to an arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze, Reuters reported. Draft resolution's annex says JeM's Azhar is associated with Islamic State or al-Qaida for "participating in financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating" or "supplying, selling or transferring arms and related material" or supporting acts of JeM, the Associated Press said. Two weeks ago, china had put last-minute technical hold before the end of deadline for the resolution against Azhar in the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee, saying Beijing wanted more time to study the case. China last week defended its repeated attempts to block the listing of the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief as a global terrorist and refuted the US allegation that Beijing's action amounted to protecting violent Islamic groups from sanctions. China has so far blocked the move four times in recent years.

Published at : 01 Apr 2019 04:17 PM (IST)

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