China yet again blocks move to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar

United Nations: In yet another setback to India’s bid to designate Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed’s (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, China on Wednesday put a technical hold on a proposal in the UN Security Council to ban him following the Pulwama terror attack.

A diplomat at the UN said that China put a “technical hold”.

The proposal was the fourth such bid at the UN in the last 10 years to list Azhar as a global terrorist.

The proposal to designate Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council was moved by France, the UK and the US on February 27, days after a suicide bomber of the JeM killed 49 CRPF soldiers in Pulwama, leading to a flare-up in tensions between India and Pakistan.