The Congress on Wednesday attacked the BJP government after China for the fourth time, blocked a bid at the UN to designate Pakistan-based terror group JeM chief Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist”, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy has been a series of “diplomatic disasters”.
The opposition party also slammed China for blocking the move.
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In yet another setback to India, China for the fourth time blocked a bid in the United Nations (UN) Security Council to designate Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed’s chief Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist” by putting a technical hold on the proposal.
The US, the UK and France had moved a fresh proposal in the UN Security Council to designate Pakistan-based terror group JeM’s chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, a listing that will subject him to global travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo.
The Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee members had 10 working days to raise any objections to the proposal.
Just before the deadline, China put a “technical hold” on the proposal, a diplomat at the UN said.
Reacting to the development, Congress’ chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said it was a sad day in the global fight against terrorism.
“China blocking Masood Azhar’s designation as a global terrorist reaffirms Chinese position of being an inseparable ally of terrorism’s breeding ground — Pakistan,” he tweeted.
“Sadly, Modiji’s foreign policy has been a series of diplomatic disasters,” the Congress spokesperson said.
The Congress has been attacking the BJP over Masood Azhar’s release in exchange for passengers of a hijacked Indian plane. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tell the nation that it was a BJP-led government which released Azhar from an Indian jail in 1999.
Masood Azhar and two other terrorists, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, were released from an Indian prison in 1999 by the then BJP-led government headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee in exchange for the passengers held hostage on board flight IC-814 hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan.
“After 56 inch’s ”hugplomacy” and the game of sitting on a swing also, the China-Pakistan duo is showing red eyes to India,” Surjewala added in a tweet in Hindi.
The Congress has slammed PM Modi for being allegedly soft on China by holding a summit meeting with President Xi Jinping in Wuhan “without an agenda” and hosting him in India earlier.
China, a close ally of Pakistan, has consistently blocked moves first by India and later by the US, the UK and France to designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the 1267 Committee by putting technical holds.
China has been insisting that the solution should be acceptable to all.
JeM was responsible for the Pulwama terror attack that killed over 44 CRPF personnel on February 14.
The JeM had earlier carried out many terror strikes in India and was also involved in the attack on Parliament, the Pathankot air force base, Army camps in Jammu and Uri.