United Nations: China has blocked India’s proposal at the United Nations to list the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Shahid Mahmood as a global terrorist.
India and the United States wanted Mahmood to be designated an international terrorist and be subjected to a global travel ban and freezing of his assets. But such a proposal requires to be agreed by all members of the 15-member UNSC body.
Mahmood is the Deputy Chief of Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation which is another front of LeT. He was listed as a terrorist by India in Oct 2020. The Falah-I-Insaniat Foundation was designated as terrorist entity by the UN in 2012.
This is the fourth time this year that China came in defence of the Pakistan-based terrorist and blocked India’s bids to blacklist them at the UN.
In August, China came in defence of Jaish-e-Mohammed deputy chief Abdul Rauf Asghar and thwarted India’s bid to list him as an UN Security Council designated terrorist.
Placing a technical hold on the proposal, China stood out against the listing of Asghar saying it required more time to study. However, all other 14 members of the United Nations Security Council agreed to impose sanctions on Asghar, the younger brother of Masood Azhar.
Asghar has been involved in the planning and execution of numerous terror attacks on India, including the hijacking of Indian Airlines aircraft IC814 (1999), the attack on the Indian Parliament (2001) and the attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot (2016).
In June 2022 as well, China placed on hold a joint proposal by India and the US to list the deputy chief of LeT, Abdul Rehman Makki, in the sanctions list.
Makki has been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalising youths to resort to violence and planning attacks in India, including the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008.
Government sources maintain that China’s actions expose its double speak and double standards when it comes to the international community’s shared battle against terrorism.
China decision is likely to further strain ties between New Delhi and Beijing. The two countries have been in a military standoff at the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh since April 2020.
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, asked about China repeatedly thwarting India’s bid to list dreaded terrorists as terrorists, said in September: “If somebody blocks listing, particularly in cases where the merits of going ahead are very apparent, I think they do so frankly at (the cost) of their own interest and reputation.”
