India fumes, takes up the Masood Azhar case with China at the highest level

New Delhi: After China blocked India's bid at the United Nations for a ban on Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar, New Delhi has taken up the issue with Beijing. Revealing India's stand, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said, "We have taken the issue of Masood Azhar with the Chinese government at the highest level. It's an issue to be pursued in a UN context."

With the Centre under fire for allowing the Pakistan Joint Investigation Team (JIT) to investigate the Pathankot terror strike on Indian soil and questions being raised about India being too soft on Pakistan, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar said the relationship with Pakistan cannot be normal until terror issues were addressed.

China requested the UN Committee to put a proposal to ban Masood on hold, a move reportedly taken in consultation with Pakistan, which supports and finances JeM. India believes Masood is the mastermind of the attack on Indian Air Force base in Pathankot.

After the attack on the IAF base on January 2, India in February wrote to the UN calling for immediate action to list Azhar under the al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee.

The submission was armed with strong evidence of JeM's terror activities and its role in the Pathankot attack in which seven Indian military personnel were killed.

India also told the UN Sanctions Committee that not listing Azhar would expose it and other countries in South Asia to threats from the terror group and its leader.

The India submission was considered by the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) for technical aspects of the evidence provided. The technical team then with the support of the US, UK and France had sent it to all the members, sources said.

All were told that if there are no objections the designation will be announced after the expiry of the deadline, sources said.

The UN had banned JeM in 2001 but India's efforts to ban Azhar after the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks also did not fructify as China, one of the five permanent members of the UN group with veto powers, didnt allow the ban apparently at the behest of Pakistan again.