China's position unchanged on Masood Azhar

Beijing [China], Jan. 17 (ANI): China has said that designating Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief Maulana Masood Azhar as a terrorist by the United Nations shall be processed by the 1267 Committee based on solid evidence and be decided upon the consensus among the UN Security Council members in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and rules of procedure of the Committee. Responding to a question on China blocking India's proposal to put Azhar on the list of designated terrorist, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "I do not like the word 'block'. As we have been saying, this issue shall be processed by the 1267 Committee based on solid evidence and be decided upon consensus among the UN Security Council members in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and rules of procedure of the 1267 Committee." She said China has put a technical hold on relevant proposal so that the committee and relevant parties would have more time for discussion and deliberation. Hua said it is a regret that parties have not yet forged consensus on this issue, adding that China would like to continue with the communication with parties concerned in pursuant to the UN resolutions and the rules of procedure of the Committee. India has accused JeM and Azhar of masterminding several attacks, including a deadly assault on an Indian Air Base in January last year and sought the UN to put him on the list of designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council. The JeM has already been blacklisted by the 15-nation Security Council, but not Azhar. (ANI)