China prevents India from heading UNSC Sanctions committee that lists international terrorists

New Delhi: India has continued its focus on Afghanistan at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) even as China once again played games at the top UN body.

China, which is one of the Permanent Five or P5 members of the body, prevented India from heading the UNSC 1267 (ISIL (Da'esh) and Al-Qaida) Sanctions committee that lists international terrorists. The same list, that has on its roll Pakistani terrorist nationals including Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi. Many of them responsible for terror attacks in India, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks for which Islamabad has yet to take action.

Last week, it was announced that India will be heading three crucial committees--the Taliban sanctions committee, the counter-terrorism committee for the year 2022, and the Libya sanctions committee. Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee was split in 2011, creating the new Taliban Sanctions Committee to separately deal with the Taliban.

By being at the Taliban sanctions committee, India gets a crucial multilateral foothold in the Afghan peace process. The Taliban need approval from this grouping to travel, and an increased level of violence in Afghanistan could impact future approvals. 

In fact, Taliban leadership had a few weeks back visited Pakistan to meet Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Foreign Minister SM Qureshi. What raised the eyebrows and drew the ire of Kabul was Taliban leadership meeting cadres in the country.

New Delhi also chairs the Counter-terror body of UNSC in 2022 and can see India taking special initiatives. The committee was formed after the 9/11 attacks in New York and bolsters the ability of United Nations Member States to prevent terrorist acts both within their borders and across regions.

It is not the first time China has created problems for India at UNSC. In 2019, in the aftermath of India removing special status for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, China at the behest of Pakistan tried to rake the issue at the body. Ultimately the attempt was thwarted, given most members saw it as India's internal matter and the issue was never put on UNSC records.

In fact, French President Macron's top diplomatic advisor Emmanuel Bonne extended his country's support to India at the body last week and said, "I mean the direct threats to India, we have always been very clear. Whether on Kashmir we have been very supportive of India in the Security Council, we have not let the Chinese play any kind of procedural games."

Interestingly, the actions of China in Hong Kong were raised at UNSC last year by member countries, much to the embarrassment of Beijing which could not stop it.