China blocks bid to blacklist Sajid Mir: How Beijing shields terrorists

China is at it again, and India is fuming. Beijing has blocked a proposal by India and the United States to designate Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist and 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Sajid Mir as a global terrorist at the United Nations.

Earlier, India and the US had jointly moved the proposal to blacklist Mir under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council as a global terrorist and subject him to an assets freeze, a travel ban and an arms embargo. Last year in September, China had put a hold on the proposal and this time around has blocked it.

India has expressed its unhappiness at Beijing’s move and in a strongly-worded statement said that if established terrorists cannot be proscribed by the United Nations “for petty geopolitical interests”, it shows a lack of “genuine political will to sincerely fight” the challenge of terrorism.

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Just hours before Modi leads a contingent at the UN headquarters for Yoga Day celebrations, Prakash Gupta, joint secretary, UN Political at the Ministry of External Affairs, speaking at the UN’s counter-terror meet said: “When the proposal for listing Sajid Mir – did not get through the Global Listings of the UN Security Council Sanctions Regime despite several member states co-sponsoring it – we have righteous reasons to believe that something is genuinely wrong with the global counter-terrorism architecture”.

“If we cannot get established terrorists who have been banned across global landscapes proscribed by the United Nations – for petty geopolitical interests – then we really do not have the genuine political will to sincerely fight this challenge of terrorism,” Gupta added.

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#WATCH | "...If we cannot get established terrorists who have been proscribed across global landscapes listed under security council architecture for pure geopolitical interest, then we do not really have the genuine political will needed to sincerely fight this challenge of… pic.twitter.com/mcbw3bV13W

— ANI (@ANI) June 21, 2023

This isn’t the first time that China is shielding terrorists with links to Pakistan. We take a look at all bids blocked by the neighbouring nation and why this has become a habit.

June 2023: Sajid Mir

Sajid Mir, a LeT terrorist, is according to investigative agencies, the chief planner of the November 26, 2008 ( 26/11) terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Dawood Gilani alias David Coleman Headley had told investigators on his arrest that Mir had recruited him and sent him to Mumbai to observe targets before the attacks, helped train terrorists, and gave them instructions over the phone as the attack unfolded, particularly the one at Nariman House where six Jewish residents were killed.

America’s Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) put out an arrest warrant for Mir on 22 April 2011 and he is also on their ‘most wanted list’.

Besides the 26/11 attack, Mir is also wanted by the US for a terror conspiracy against a Danish newspaper and its employee in 2008 and 2009.

In June last year, Mir was jailed for over 15 years in a terror-financing case by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan. In fact, Pakistan had in the past claimed Mir had died, but various nations were sceptical and demanded proof of his death. It was a major sticking point in Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s assessment of Pakistan’s progress on the action plan last year.

October 2022: Hafiz Talah Saeed

In October last year, China placed a hold on the proposal to add Hafiz Talah Saeed, the son of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, on UN’s global terrorists list.

The 46-year-old key LeT leader and head of the terror organisation’s cleric wing was designated a terrorist by the Indian government in April. He has been actively involved in recruitment, fund collection, and planning and executing attacks by the LeT in India and Indian interests in Afghanistan.

He has also been actively visiting various LeT centres across Pakistan, and during his sermons propagating for jihad against India, Israel, the United States and Indian interests in the West, the home ministry said in its notification.

October 2022: Shahid Mahmood

In October, China also blocked a proposal by India and the US at the UN to list LeT’s Shahid Mahmood as a global terrorist.

A senior leader based in Karachi, the 42-year-old has been affiliated with the terror outfit since at least 2007. The United States declared him a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) in 2016.

According to the US Department of Treasury, Mahmood served as the vice chairman of Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF), a humanitarian and fundraising arm of LeT as early as June 2015 and at least June 2016. In 2014, he was the leader of FIF in Karachi and in August 2013, was identified as a LeT publications wing member.

He travelled to Bangladesh to distribute funds to a Burmese migrant camp for facilitating LeT recruitment. He also visited Syria, Turkey and Gaza.

“While part of LeT’s operations team, Mahmood’s areas of responsibility included Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh. Additionally, in August 2013, Mahmood was instructed to forge covert links with Islamic organisations in Bangladesh and Burma, and as of late 2011, Mahmood claimed that LeT’s primary concern should be attacking India and America,” the US Department of Treasury says on its website.

August 2022: Abdul Rauf Azhar

Beijing in August 2022 blocked a proposal to blacklist the senior Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) deputy chief  Abdul Rauf Azhar, saying it needed more time to assess the application.

The brother of Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, Rauf is one of the conspirators of the 1999 hijack of Indian Airlines flight IC-814. It was planned to secure Masood Azhar’s release from jail.

He was responsible for the attack on Parliament in 2001, the 2005 attack on the makeshift Ayodhya Temple, and the 2016 strike on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot. He is believed to have strong ties with the Taliban, Al Qaeda, LeT and Haqqani network.

Designated a “global terrorist” by the US in 2010, Rauf has been reportedly been taking refuge in Pakistan.

June 2022: Abdul Rehman Makki

In June, China put a technical hold on the proposal by India and the US to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki, the brother-in-law of Hafiz Saeed.

The two countries had called for designating Makki as a “Global Terrorist” under the ISIS and Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UNSC. He has been accused of radicalising youth in Jammu and Kashmir and planning attacks in the region.

A firebrand terrorist, he is a known face at the Kashmir Solidarity rallies held in Islamabad. In 2010, he threatened “rivers of blood” in India for not handling Kashmir to Pakistan and threatened to seize it. In November 2010, he was put on the US treasury department list of designated and sanctioned terrorists. A bounty of $20 million was offered for information on him, reports The Indian Express.

According to the US, Makki has played a role in raising funds for LeT operations and has occupied various leadership roles in the LeT. He has been working closely with Hafiz Saeed and would always be present in court during hearings against the 26/11 mastermind.

March 2019: Masood Azhar

In March 2019, China prevented a UNSC committee from blacklisting Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Masood Azhar. However, two months on, the United Nations declared him a global terrorist, which came as a big diplomatic win for India after China withdrew its objections.

Beijing had been blocking India’s attempts to secure the designation against Azhar almost for a decade.

Azhar is one of the terrorists freed by India in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane in 1999. Since his release, he has overseen several terror attacks, including some targeting India. He has been accused of plotting the February 14 attack on a paramilitary convoy in Kashmir’s Pulwama that lead to the deaths of 40 personnel.

China’s motives

For years, China has been raising objections and blocking India’s bid to crack down on terrorists. It is their way to ensure that Pakistan keeps India occupied in regional battles.

However, the US has blacklisted some terrorists shielded by China like LeT’s intelligence chief Azam Cheema and Hizbul Mujahideen head Mohamed Yusuf Shah alias Syed Salahuddin. While Cheema trained 26/11 handlers, Salahuddin has been focused on spreading terror in Jammu and Kashmir.

“…China is, in fact, supporting terror against India by placing hurdles before the 1267 committee and shielding the mass murderers from facing justice,” writes journalist Shishir Gupta in Hindustan Times. In return, Pakistan remains mum against the oppression of Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang province.

With inputs from agencies

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