Paris: On Friday, in a big development, France announced that it has decided to freeze the assets of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar. The French government said the freeze would apply to Azhar’s assets that are there in the country. The development came close on the heels of China yet again blocking a move at the United Nations Security Council to list Azhar as a global terrorist. China this week, for the fourth time, put a ‘technical hold’ on a move to designate Azhar as a global terrorist under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UNSC.
The proposal to designate Azhar as a global terrorist was moved by France, the United Kingdom and the United States on February 27. Members on the Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee were given 10 working days to raise any objections if they had on the proposal. China, just minutes before the deadly was to expire, put a "technical hold" on the proposal and sought "more time to examine" it.
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It yesterday defended its move and said the technical hold would allow Beijing more time for a "thorough and in-depth assessment" of the case. China further said the parties concerned would also get time to have more talks to find a "lasting solution" acceptable to all. China "sincerely hopes that relevant action taken by this committee will help relevant countries to engage in dialogue and consultation and prevent adding more complicated factors into regional peace and stability," Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told a media briefing.
Lu said"As to the technical hold at the 1267 Committee our action is to make sure that the committee will have enough time to study the matter so that the relevant sides will have time for dialogue and consultation," ."Only a solution that is acceptable to all sides could fundamentally provide a chance for a lasting solution to the issue. China is ready to communicate and coordinate with all sides including India to properly handle this issue," he added.
The latest proposal was moved in the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee days after a JeM suicide bomber carried out a deadly terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, in which 40 CRPF soldiers were killed. The attack had flared up tensions between India and Pakistan.
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