With only a day left to China's "technical hold" that blocked India's move to put a ban on the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) leader and Pathankot terror attack mastermind Maulana Masood Azharin, Beijing will once again have to take a call on the fate of the terror leader. In anticipation, India too has readied its own subsequent actions.
China thwarted India's bid to designate Azhar as a global terrorist in United Nations by putting a technical "hold" on sanctions against him in Security Council on March 31st this year. China's "technical hold" on Azhar is set to expire tomorrow( December 31st) .
Notedly, China was the only member in the 15-nation UN body to put a hold. Azhar's name on the list would subject him to an assets freeze and travel ban.
China has two options. It could let the "hold" lapse, in other words, do nothing. The ban would then automatically apply to Masood Azhar as the sanctions under UNSC resolution 1267 would kick in.
On the other hand, China could convert the "hold" into a "block". That is a more formal status to stop Masood Azhar from coming under sanctions. It would indicate China's intention to support Pakistan at all costs, including its terrorist leaders and therefore China's diplomatic support to global terrorism.
If China blocks sanctions again, as many believe it will, India will put several other terror leaders up for sanctions. These would include Masood Azhar's brother, Abdul Rauf Asghar, as well as some other leaders from LeT and JeM, Times of India quoted its sources as saying.
Also, India will then mount a PR campaign connecting China with supporting global terrorism, the sources told the daily.
If China sticks to its earlier stand, it would be terrible for China's image. Only recently, China had said, "There should be no double standards on counter-terrorism. Nor should one pursue own political gains in the name of counter-terrorism."
Even as China hinted earlier this month that there is no change in its position on Islamist hardliner, India’s case has been bolstered with the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA’s) recent findings indicting Azhar in the Pathankot air force base attack on January 2.
China’s technical hold coupled with its move to block India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) has cast a shadow on the Sino-India ties. Both the countries have held several rounds of talks on the issues in recent months.
