China on Thursday accused the US of undermining the authority of the UN anti-terror committee by “forcefully moving” a resolution at the UN Security Council to list Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. America’s move only “complicates” the issue, said Beijing, which was seen as a hint by many that China would continue to block the move.
The United States has bypassed the United Nations Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee by directly filing the draft resolution to blacklist Jaish-e-Mohammad Masood Azhar with the council, China alleged on Thursday.
“The US has bypassed the 1267 committee and has directly filed the draft resolution with the security council. This is not in line with the resolution of the issue through dialogue and negotiations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefing here, Geng said that the “move” had reduced the authority of the committee as a main anti-terrorism body of the security council. “This is not in line and is not conducive to the solidarity and will only complex the issue. We urge the US to act cautiously and avoid forcefully moving forward this resolution draft,” he said.
The US has circulated a resolution – drafted with British and French support – to the 15-member council that will designate JeM leader Masood Azhar, subjecting him to an arms stoppage, travel ban and asset freeze.
JeM has claimed responsibility for a February 14 attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama that killed at least 40 CRPF personnel, making it the deadliest in Kashmir during a 30-year-long insurgency.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that China had conducted a “comprehensive and thorough evaluation” but still needed more time to consider the proposal. China had previously prevented the committee from sanctioning Azhar in 2016 and 2017.
