WASHINGTON: Masood Azhar being declared a global terrorist by the United Nations is "a victory for American diplomacy", US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted. Welcoming the move, the top Trump administration official congratulated the US team at the United Nations. To be noted that "Congrats to our team @USUN for their work in negotiating JEM's Masood Azhar's #UN designation as a terrorist. This long-awaited action is a victory for American diplomacy and the international community against terrorism, and an important step towards peace in South Asia," Mr Pompeo tweeted.

On Wednesday, the US had said blacklisting the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief demonstrates international commitment to rooting out terrorism in Pakistan. A White House official said that after 10 years, China has done the right thing by lifting its blockade. "I think China seems to have understood that it was increasingly important that it's actions on the international stage on terrorism matched it's rhetoric," news agency PTI quoted the White House official as saying on the condition of anonymity. Pulwama attack, the official noted was just the latest in the terrorist attacks that this "deadly group" has conducted.

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Here it is to be noted that Keeping up the international pressure to designate Masood Azhar a global terrorist, the US, supported by France and the UK, had moved a draft resolution directly in the UN Security Council to blacklist him. China, which had blocked moves to blacklist Masood Azhar four times, finally dropped its objections saying it "found no objection after a careful study of revised materials". Designating the Jaish chief a global terrorist is a big diplomatic win for India, which had relentlessly pursued the matter with its international allies.

France too welcomed the UN Security Council's move, saying it "signals the successful realisation" of its efforts. "For many years, French diplomacy has been relentlessly pleading for sanctioning Azhar, "head of the terrorist group responsible, notably, for the Pulwama attack", said a statement issued by the Foreign Affairs of France.

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