UN Secretariat informs Security Council Sanctions Committee 'China placed hold' on Azhar proposal

The UN Secretariat has informed the members of the Security Council Sanctions Committee that "China has placed a hold on the proposal to list Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, just one hour before the deadline.

The proposal to designate Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council was moved by the three Permanent Members of the Council, France, the UK and the US on February 27. More than a dozen member states had co-sponsored the proposal.

A note by the UN Secretariat to the members of the 1267 ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee, seen by PTI, said that "the Secretariat wishes to inform the members of the Committee that China has placed a hold on the proposal from the US, the UK and France to "add an individual, Mohammad Masood Azhar Alvi" to the ISIL and Al Qaida Sanctions List.

The hold by China on the proposal will be valid for up to six months and it can be extended for another three months if a Committee member asks for additional time to consider the proposal.

"Big,small & many...1 big state holds up, again ...1 small signal @UN against terror. Grateful to the many states - big & small - who in unprecedented numbers, joined as co-sponsors of the effort," Syed Akbaruddin, India's permanent representative at the United Nations, tweeted.

In New Delhi, the Ministry of External Affairs expressed disappointment at the outcome, saying this has prevented action by the international community to designate the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a proscribed and active terrorist organisation which has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14.

India said it was grateful for the efforts of the Member States who moved the designation proposal and the unprecedented number of all other Security Council members as well as non-members who joined as co-sponsors.

After being moved in the Sanctions Committee, the proposal had been under the no-objection period and Committee members had a period of 10 working days to raise any objections to it.

The no-objection period deadline was to end 3 pm Wednesday (12:30am IST). But at around 2 pm, just one hour before the expiry of the deadline,