India's Ambassador to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin, accused the international organisation of being stuck in a "time warp and politics" with regard to India's proposal to ban Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, PTI reported on Tuesday. India had alleged Azhar’s involvement in the attack on the Pathankot air base in January and September 18 Uri attacks as well.
The security council had blacklisted the Jaish-e-Mohammed leader and labelled him a terrorist, but opposition from countries, including China, had stalled issuing a ban on him. Akbaruddin said, "While our collective conscience is ravaged everyday by terrorists in some region or another, the Security Council gives itself nine months to consider whether to sanction leaders of organisations it has itself designated as terrorist entities," he said.
China had been using its power in the United Nations Security Council through a “technical hold” to keep Azhar off the list, a move that is seen as a favour to its ally Pakistan, which has also led to friction with India. On November 7, China had said it would continue to oppose India's bid for membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
In October, Azhar wrote an opinion piece in his organisation's magazine al-Qalam where he urged the Pakistan government to allow jihadist groups to escalate their operations against India. He warned that if Islamabad did not act decisively in this regard, it would lose a “historic opportunity” to seize Kashmir.
On October 25, reports surfaced that Pakistan had frozen the bank accounts of the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief and more than 5,100 terror suspects, who had over Rs 40 crore in their accounts.Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
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