China defends blocking bid to ban Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, says 'conditions not met'

Beijing: China on Wednesday defended its move to block a move in the United Nations to designate Pathankot attack mastermind and Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Pathankot attack mastermind and Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

While justifying its decision, Beijing said, the conditions were not met to ban Azhar.

Replying to a spate of questions on China putting a technical hold for the third time on attempts to list Azhar as a global terrorist, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a media briefing here that Beijing resorted to this move to allow the "relevant parties" to reach a consensus.

"Last year 1,267 Committee of the UN Security Council discussed the issue regarding listing Masood (Azhar) in the sanctions list. There were different views with no consensus reached," Lu said.

"As for the submission once again by relevant countries to list him in the sanctions list, I would say the conditions are not yet met for the Committee to reach a decision," he said.

"China has put the request on technical hold, to allow the relevant parties more time to consult with each other. This is also in line with rules of the relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the rules of the discussion of the Committee," he said.

China's reaction comes after, the US along with the UK and France moved the UN for banning the JeM chief.

According to senior government sources, the US, supported by two other permanent members of UN Security Council -the UK and France- moved a proposal at the UN's Sanctions Committee 1267 in the second-half of the last month to proscribe Azhar, adding India had no role in the proposal.

The proposal, which was finalised after "consultations" between Washington and New Delhi, said JeM is a designated terror outfit and so its leaders cannot go scot-free, sources said. It was submitted just a day before the inauguration of US President Donald Trump, according to officials.

"However, China opposed the US move by putting a hold on the proposal," a source said, adding the Chinese action came just before the expiry of the 10-day deadline for any proposal to be adopted or blocked or to be put on hold.

Last year China blocked India's bid to have Masood Azhar declared an international terrorist by the UN Security Council's 1267 Sanctions Committee.

China repeatedly put a "technical hold" on India's resolution for a ban on Azhar in 2016. India says Azhar is the mastermind of the January 2016 terror attack on the Pathankot air base in Punjab.