Reacting to China’s demands of “solid evidence” for getting Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar banned by the United Nations, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the extent of Azhar’s actions were well-documented and that the “burden of proof” was not on India, PTI reported. Jaishankar met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Executive Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui on Wednesday.
“The proposal in question this time is not moved by us. It is not that the burden of proof is on India to convince,” he said while addressing the media. “The sponsors seem to be very well convinced, otherwise they would not have taken the initiative to move the proposal,” he added.
On February 17, China had said India had not provided any “solid evidence” against Azhar, and there was no consensus on the matter among the UN Security Council members. “There is no consensus because China has not joined it,” Jaishankar said on Wednesday. India’s application to list Azhar as a global terrorist had “broad international support”, Jaishankar said.
The foreign secretary also added that China said it was open to India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group. “They have their view of procedures and processes. These were different from where we are at the moment and most of the group is at the moment,” he said.
On February 7, the United States had moved the UN to include Azhar in its list of banned global militants. However, China had opposed the proposal. China then blocked similar proposals by India in October and December. Beijing had said relevant countries have made another application with the 1267 sanctions committee, but they have failed to reach a consensus so far.
“Whether 1267 or the NSG issue, they are in essence multilateral issues not bilateral issues,” China had said.
India has alleged that Azhar’s JeM played a key role in the Pathankot and Uri militant attacks last year. On December 19, the National Investigation Agency had also filed a chargesheet against Azhar and two other JeM leaders. Azhar is also wanted by India for his involvement in the Parliament attack case and the bomb blast at the Srinagar Assembly in 2001. India had released him after an Indian Airlines flight was hijacked in Kandahar in 2001.
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