Pakistan on Wednesday said it will “immediately enforce the sanctions” imposed by the United Nations on Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, Dawn reported. Pakistan said it agreed with the blacklisting of Azhar after “political references”, including those linking him with the Pulwama attack, were removed from the proposal.
“This entails a ban on foreign travel, assets freeze and arms embargo,” said Foreign Office spokesperson Mohammad Faisal, calling terrorism a “menace to the world”.
The 1267 Sanctions Committee of the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday designated Azhar a global terrorist after China, a close ally of Pakistan, withdrew its opposition to the proposal. Beijing said it lifted its veto after studying “revised material” submitted by relevant countries to the sanctions committee.
Faisal said earlier proposals to blacklist Azhar did not get the consensus from the sanctions committee as “the information did not meet its technical criteria”. “The current listing has been agreed after all political references were removed, including attempts to link it with Pulwama [attack] and maligning the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiris in IOK [Jammu and Kashmir] for realisation of the right to self-determination,” Faisal said.
Faisal said the sanctions committee is “governed by clear rules and its decisions are taken through consensus”. “Pakistan has always advocated the need for respecting these technical rules and has opposed the politicisation of the committee,” he said.
The spokesperson said attempts by the Indian media to build a narrative presenting the development as a “victory for India and validation for its stance” were “false and baseless”, reported The Express Tribune.
“Our position is in line with the statements of Prime Minister [Imran] Khan who clearly stated that there is no space for any proscribed organisation or its affiliates to operate from Pakistani territory, our resolve for countering terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and our National Action Plan,” he explained.
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