Germany was in touch with several member nations of the EU for listing Azhar as a terrorist which will result in his travel ban as well as freezing of his assets in the 28 countries of the bloc, news agency PTI said citing sources.
A proposal has been floated but no resolution on the issue has been moved yet.
To get Azhar designated here, all the 28 countries of the Union will have to support the move to ban the Pakistan-based terrorist as the bloc decides on such issues under the principle of consensus.
Two days after China’s blocking of UNSC bid, France imposed financial sanctions on Azhar and said it will work with its European partners for putting the JeM chief’s name on the EU list of persons and entities involved in terrorist acts.
China last week, 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.
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.
However, Just before the deadline, China - a veto-wielding member, put a "technical hold" on the proposal. It 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.