Rights View
Published on Mar 14, 2019
China yesterday blocked any discussion on the draft resolution tabled by US, UK, France and Germany for designation of Masood Azhar, Chief of the Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed, as a global terrorist by the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council (UNSC). Just before the scheduled debate at the UNSC, China wrote a letter stating that it needs time to study the request and therefore, no debate could take place. Had the debate taken place, the sponsors of the draft resolution would have stated their grounds for sponsoring the resolution. China, therefore, effectively saved Pakistan from being exposed for its support to terror by preventing the debate itself. In this interview, Suhas Chakma, Director of the Rights & Risks Analysis Group (RRAG) explains the rules of procedures of the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, why China’s request effectively means the end of this process, the impact of designation as terrorist, China’s hypocrisy and double standards on designating terrorists, and the options India has given China’s position to block designation of Masood Azhar as a terrorist by the UN Security Council.
