China sticks to its stand on Azhar despite NIA charge sheet

Beijing: India's move to charge sheet Masood Azhar in the Pathankot terror attack appears to have not made much impact on China as Beijing on Wednesday said any move by New Delhi to bring about a UN ban on the JeM chief must be in line with rules and procedures laid down by the Security Council.

"On the question of listing in the 1267 Committee, I have expressed the Chinese position many times," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in response to a question on NIA listing Azhar, the head of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad, as terrorist in the charge sheet on the attack on an air force base in Pathankot in January, 2016.

"Listing in the 1267 Committee must be in line with the relevant resolutions of the UNSC and the rules of procedure of the Committee," Hua said in a written reply in Beijing.

NIA on Monday filed a charge sheet against Azhar, his brother and two others for hatching the conspiracy of the attack that killed seven personnel and injured 37 others.

Hua's reply came as China's second technical hold in the UN blocking India's move to list Azhar as a terrorist under the 1267 committee rules of the UNSC is set to expire towards the end of December.

On March 31, China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, had blocked India's move to impose a ban on Azhar under the Sanctions Committee of the Council.

China was the only member in the 15-nation UN body to put a hold on India's application with all other 14 members of the Council supporting New Delhi's bid to place Azhar on the 1267 sanctions list that would subject him to an assets freeze and travel ban.

Officials here say that India may have to apply again to the 1267 committee with the charge sheet details to press for its case as its present application will lapse following Beijing's two technical holds.

The two countries have been holding talks on China's blocking Azhar's case as well as India's application to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

The talks appears to have not made much headway as China on December 12 said there is no change in both the cases.

"As for India's application for Nuclear Suppliers Group and listing issue pursuant to resolution of 1267 (to list Azhar as terrorist) China's position remains unchanged," another Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang had said.

His assertion that China's stand remained unchanged in both NSG and Azhar's cases was made while answering a question on Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar's remarks last week at India-China think tank forum in New Delhi that China should not give a political colour to New Delhi's efforts to access civilian nuclear technology, in reference to Beijing's opposition to its NSG bid.

Jaishankar had also expressed dismay over the two countries not being able to come together on the issue at critical international forums, a reference to China blocking the ban in the UN on Azhar.