EXPLAINER: How China is supporting terror by blocking India’s UN bid on Masood Azhar
China's dodgy stand on terrorism threatens its image on the international stage.
China has vetoed an Indian bid at the United Nations that would have imposed financial sanctions and an international travel ban on Masood Azhar, the leader of terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad who is believed to be based out of Pakistan.
Beijing’s vote was met with disapproval in New Delhi, with India’s foreign ministry describing the move as both concerning and surprising.
(Source: Twitter)
- Azhar is believed to have organised the terrorist attack on an Indian army base in Pathankot in the state of Punjab, which led to the slaying of seven Indian soldiers. After Indian security agencies confirmed Azhar’s role in the deadly attack, India in March pressed for sanctions against him at the UN Security Council. India’s bid was blocked by China, the only one of the 15 Security Council members to have opposed India’s case against Azhar.
- The JeM chief also played a key role in plotting several other terror incident in India, including a 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament. India had been able to arrest Azhar as early as in 1994, but had to release him to secure safe return of Indians who had been taken hostage on an Indian Airlines flight by his supporters in 1999.
- China reportedly put a three-month technical hold on India’s case against Azhar initially, extending that hold for three more months in October. The second three-month phase expired this week, and Beijing was faced with an option of either blocking India’s bid altogether or supporting it. Beijing’s argued at the time that putting a technical hold would buy India and Pakistan more time to come to the table for talks to sort out their differences.
- China and Pakistan have been cooperating closely militarily and in trade for the last few years, a process that has accelerated since the drawing down of US-led coalition troops in Afghanistan. As per some analysis, Beijing, along with Russia, is trying to fill the security vacuum that would be created after American and NATO troops leave war-ravaged Afghanistan. Both Beijing and Moscow view Pakistan as the key to ensure regional peace, which explains their closer ties with Islamabad in recent times.
- For many security analysts, China’s support for Azhar was a foregone conclusion as helping sanctioning him would have put Pakistan’s security services directly in the dock. India has long maintained that it has proof that Pakistan’s military and intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), have been helping Islamist radicals carry out terrorist attacks in India.
- China has a massive stake in Pakistan’s future, with the Beijing-sponsored $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), running from Xinjiang in western China to the port of Gwadar in Pakistan, seen crucial by Beijing to secure its energy future. India has also accused China of warming up to Pakistan to contain India, a strategic and trade rival with which the dragon shares a long and disputed border.
- However, Beijing’s move to block India’s bid on Masood Azhar may put it in moral quandary when dealing with its own separatist insurgency in Xinjiang region. Beijing’s move is sure to complicate its relations with India and is expected to provoke a strong retaliatory move from New Delhi.
- According to a news report, India may well move against more terrorists based out Pakistan at the UN Security Council, in order to help build a case against China’s complacency on international terrorism. In the wake of China blocking Masood Azhar from being sanctioned, there is perception that it would follow the same strategy in dealing with other Pakistan-based terrorists.