Masood Azhar's listing as global terrorist: All eyes on China as UNSC deadline to block bid nears

India has reached out to all the 15 members of the UNSC, however, China which is a veto–wielding member of the council, still hasn’t cleared its stand.

Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar.

New Delhi: As deadline to block the latest move to bring Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar under list of designated terrorists, ends on Wednesday for the United Nations Security Council members, all eyes will be on China which has previously blocked three attempts by India to bring Azhar under international sanctions. At the same time, the United States has assured that it will put all its efforts to pass the proposal. The UNSC committee will decide at 3 pm New York time on Wednesday, or 1.30 am Indian Standard Time on March 14, on the listing of Azhar as an international terrorist. The proposal to declare Azhar an international terrorist was moved by the US, the UK and France at the UNSC after the Pulwama terrorist attack. India has reached out to all the 15 members of the UNSC, however, China which is a veto–wielding member of the council, still hasn’t cleared its stand. Apprehensions in New Delhi move around China again, as the entire decision hinges on the country. A day ago, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang had told Chinese media, "First I would like to say that the UNSC as a main body of the UN has strict standards and rules of procedures. Some reports have knowledge of inside information the UNSC. I don't know that can be counted as an evidence. He said that China’s  position on the designation of a terrorist by the UN is consistent and clear.  Failure by China to designate Azhar would counter regional stability goal: US US Deputy Spokesperson of the state department Robert Palladino said the United States and India work closely together on counter-terrorism efforts, and that includes at the United Nations. He said US’ views on Jaish-e-Mohammed and its founder are well known. JEM is a United Nations-designated terrorist group. Azhar is the founder and the leader of JEM, and he meets the criteria for designation by the United Nations. JEM has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks and is a threat to regional stability and peace. When asked about China’s stand in process, Palladino said that the United States and China share a mutual interest in achieving regional stability and peace, and that a failure to designate Azhar would run counter to this goal.