India's Ambassador to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin, on Wednesday said the decision to designate Masood Azhar a global terrorist marked a ‘significant outcome’ of India's decade-long diplomatic efforts towards this goal.
Akbaruddin, in a public address, said, “This is a significant outcome, we have been at it for several years, today the goal stands achieved.”
“Grateful to many countries who supported us i.e. the USA, UK and France and also several others in the council & outside the council; I would like to thank permanent representative of Indonesia,” he added.
The UNSC designation will subject Azhar to an assets freeze, travel ban and an arms embargo.
India had been relentless in its global diplomatic efforts to lobby the UN Security Council against Masood Azhar. However, China proved to be an obstacle in the path to designate him a global terrorist.
China removed its technical hold on the proposal on Wednesday evening, which was moved by France, UK and the US in the Security Council’s 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee in February days after the deadly Pulwama terror attack carried out by the Pakistan-based terror outfit JeM.
A veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, China was the sole hold-out in the 15-nation body on the bid to blacklist Azhar, blocking attempts by placing a "technical hold" and asking for "more time to examine" the proposal.
Masood Azhar, a Pakistani national, founded the JeM with the help of Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI in January 2000, soon after his release from an Indian jail in exchange for 166 hostages of an Indian Airlines plane which was hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan during a flight from Kathmandu to New Delhi.
Since then, the outfit has carried out umpteen terror attacks in India, including the one on Parliament on December 13, 2001 and the deadly February 14 Pulwama attack.
(With inputs from agencies)
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