China blocks move to blacklist Masood Azhar as global terrorist, India disappointed

United Nation : The Ministry of External Affairs on Wednesday expressed disappointment over China's bid to prevent Masood Azhar from being tagged as a global terrorist.

"We are disappointed by this outcome. This has prevented action by the international community to designate the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a proscribed and active terrorist organization which has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14, 2019," the MEA said, in a statement.

With Germany being the latest to support India's bid, the proposal to designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist was moved by France, the United States and the United Kingdom on February 27.

The MEA further said, "We are grateful for the efforts of the Member States who moved the designation proposal and the unprecedented number of all other Security Council members as well as non-members who joined as co-sponsors. We will continue to pursue all available avenues to ensure that terrorist leaders who are involved in heinous attacks on our citizens are brought to justice."

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah also shared disappointment over China's decision. "China places a technical hold on Masood Azhar in the UN again! Pakistan gets its way once again," Abdullah posted on Twitter.

China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, and an "all-weather ally" of Pakistan, has blocked India's proposal from being adopted by the Sanctions Committee in 2009 and 2016. In 2017, Beijing also blocked a move by the US, the UK and France to designate Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN.