China stalls US-India proposal to list Pakistani terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under UNSC sanctions

PTI, Jun 17, 2022, 2:02 PM IST

Credit: Reuters photo

China has put a hold in the UN at the last moment on a joint proposal by India and the US to list Pakistan-based militant Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist under Al Qaida Sanctions Committee of the Security Council.

Makki is a US-designated terrorist and brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba head and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

It is learnt that New Delhi and Washington had put a joint proposal to designate Makki as a global terrorist under the 1267 ISIL and Al Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council but Beijing placed a hold on this proposal at the last minute here.

Earlier also, China, an all-weather friend of Islamabad, has placed holds and blocks on bids by India and its allies to list Pakistan-based terrorists.

In May 2019, India had won a huge diplomatic win at the UN when the global body designated Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist”, a decade after New Delhi had first approached the world body on the issue.

A veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council, China was the sole hold-out in the 15-nation body on the bid to blacklist Azhar, blocking attempts by placing a “technical hold”. All decisions of the committee are taken through consensus.