JeM chief Masood Azhar designated as a global terrorist by UNSC after China lifts technical hold

Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar has been designated as a global terrorist by the United Nations Security Council, according to several media reports. Syed Akbaruddin, India’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, confirmed the development on Twitter:

Big,small, all join together.

Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist in @UN Sanctions list

Grateful to all for their support. 🙏🏽#Zerotolerance4Terrorism

— Syed Akbaruddin (@AkbaruddinIndia) May 1, 2019

The move comes in the wake of China — a permanent member of the UNSC — lifting its technical hold on the blacklisting of Masood, News18 reported. In March, China had put a hold on a fresh proposal by the United States, the United Kingdom and France to impose a ban on the chief of the JeM, which claimed responsibility for the deadly Pulwama terror attack. The proposal was the fourth such bid at the UN in the last 10 years to list Masood as a global terrorist. India had first moved a proposal by itself in 2009 to designate Masood a global terrorist, but China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, had blocked India’s proposal from being adopted by the UN’s 1267 Sanctions Committee. India moved the second proposal, in 2016 with the P3 nations — the  US, UK and France — to ban Masood, also the mastermind of the attack on the air base in Pathankot in January 2016. And then again in 2017 with the P3 nations. However, on all occasions China blocked the proposal from being adopted by the UN Sanctions Committee. With inputs from PTI