Lakhvi release: China blocks India at UN

New Delhi: In a major development having ominous implications for India and further highlighting the Sino- Pakistani nexus, China on Tuesday blocked India’s move in the United Nations demanding action against Pakistan over the release of Mumbai attack mastermind and LeT commander Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi as it  (China) contended that India provided insufficient information.

In a letter to the current chair of the UN Sanctions Committee Jim McLay, India’s permanent  representative to the UN Asoke Mukherjee last month had said Lakhvi’s release by a Pakistani court was in violation of the 1267 UN resolution dealing with designated entities and individuals.

The sanctions measures apply to designated individuals and entities associated with terror groups  including Al-Qaeda and LeT. The release of Lakhvi had also raised concerns in the US, UK, Russia, France and Germany with Washington calling for him to be re-arrested.

Lakhvi and six others — Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hamad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younis Anjum — have been charged with planning and executing the Mumbai attack in  November, 2008, that left 166 people dead.

Lakhvi, 55, a close relative of LeT founder and Jamaat-Ud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, was arrested in December 2008 and was indicted along with the six others on November 25, 2009 in connection with the 26/11 attack case. The trial im the Mumbai attacks case has been underway since 2009. A Pakistani court had on April 9 set free Lakhvi.