China places on hold India-U.S. proposal to list JeM deputy chief Asghar

This is the second time China has blocked an India-U.S. listing proposal at the UNSC in two months

China on Thursday thwarted a joint India-U.S. bid to list Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad deputy chief Rauf Asghar as a U.N. Security Council designated terrorist, by placing a ‘technical hold’ on the process, sources told The Hindu. Asghar, the brother of JeM leader Masood Azhar, is accused of masterminding a number of terror attacks from the IC-814 hijacking in 1999 and the Parliament attack in 2001, to attacks on security force personnel in Pathankot, Pulwama and other locations in Jammu and Kashmir. Asghar was arrested by Pakistani authorities in 2019 on more minor terror financing charges, but it is unclear where he is at present.

In its decision to hold the proposal for the 1267 UNSC terror designation listings on Rauf Asghar, also known as Abdul Rauf Azhar Alvi, the Chinese mission at the U.N. said it required ‘more time’ to study the proposal, and now has six months to make a decision. This is the second time China has blocked an India-U.S. listing proposal at the UNSC in two months, and comes after China placed a similiar hold on the listing of Abdur Rahman Makki, deputy chief of the Lashkar-e-Toiba/Jamaat ud Dawa (LeT/JuD).

Also read:Designation failure: The Hindu Editorial on China’s decision to block terror tag for Lashkar leader

China’s decision is likely to further strain ties between New Delhi and Beijing, which have been in a military standoff at the Line of Actual Control since April 2020, and comes despite some signs of a diplomatic thaw, after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of a G-20 meeting in Bali, and Chinese Special Envoy on Afghan Affairs Yue Xiaoyong travelled to Delhi for talks with his Indian counterpart J. P. Singh last week. Government officials had been hopeful for a shift in Chinese position after 2019, when China withdrew objections to the listing of JeM chief Masood Azhar, who was freed in return for hostages in the IC-814 hijack. The holds on the UNSC terror listings of Makki, followed by Asghar indicates otherwise. The 1267 U.N. listing mandates members to ensure that terrorists and organisations designated must not be allowed to travel and have recourse to funds or weapons. However, a UNSC permanent member can place a hold on any listing for a period of upto 6 months, followed by an extension of 6 months, after which it must either accept or deny the listing.

The MEA has not yet confirmed or commented on the Chinese decision to hold Rauf Asghar’s listing at the UNSC. Expressing India’s frustration with similar decisions by China in the past, U.N. permanent representative Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj had said on Tuesday that “the practice of placing holds and blocks on listing requests without giving any justification must end. It is most regrettable that genuine and evidence-based listing proposals pertaining to some of the most notorious terrorists in the world are being placed on hold.” Ms. Kamboj had said that the “double standards and continuing politicisation” of the process had rendered the credibility of the Sanctions Regime at an “all-time low.”