New Delhi, Aug 12 : The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Friday said there should not be any dual standards in dealing with terrorists following China rejected a plan by the US and India to declare the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Vice Chief Abdul Rauf Azhar as a “global terrorist” in the UN Security Council. Abdul Rauf is the brother of JeM chief Masood Azhar who is also the responsible for the 2008 Mumbai attacks in 2008.
“It is a shame that the international community has not been able to speak in one voice in our fight together against terror.There shouldn’t be any two-standards in the fight with terrorists.
The practice of blocking and holding without justification should be stopped,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated at the weekly press conference.
Abdul Rauf, born in 1974, in Pakistan, has been involved in the planning and execution of numerous terrorist attacks in India which included 1999’s Indian Airlines plane IC-814 hijack and 2001 Parliament attack, and the 2016 Pathankot attack.
The foreign ministry declared it “most regrettable” that genuine and substantiated listing suggestions for certain of the most notorious terrorists of the world were not made.
“Double standards and the continued politicization have ruined the credibility of the Sanctions Committee to an all-time low,” Bagchi said.
In relation to India and China relations, Bagchi said: “We have always stood up for the necessity of the mutual respect, mutual understanding, and reciprocity as the base for the improvement of relations.”
China on Wednesday placed the “technical hold” on a resolution in the UN Security Council to declare Azhar as an international terrorist and to put in place a freeze on assets as well as a travel ban and an arms embargo.This was a decision that all the 14 other member states of the top UN body backed.
China has said it requires more time to evaluate the application to designate Azhar as an international terrorist.
This is only the second time in less than two months China has stopped the blacklisting of an Indian-based terrorist by both the US as well as India in the UN.
In June, China had blocked a joint proposal of India as well as the US to include the Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under the 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.
In May 2019 In May 2019, the UN declared Masood Azhar an “global terrorist” just a decade before India first approached the world body regarding the issue.
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