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Global terrorist

The decision of the United Nations Security Council to declare Masood Azhar a global terrorist has vindicated India’s decade-long diplomatic efforts, with timely help from the US, the UK and France.

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The decision of the United Nations Security Council to declare Masood Azhar a global terrorist has vindicated India’s decade-long diplomatic efforts, with timely help from the US, the UK and France. The development comes less than three months after the Jaish-e-Mohammed, the Pakistan-based outfit headed by Azhar, carried out the Pulwama terror attack. There is no mention of the Pulwama attack or Kashmir in the UN resolution, but those who are raising a hue and cry over the omission are unable to see the wood for the trees.

China lifted its technical hold after it examined the ‘revised material’ submitted to the UN’s 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee and found no objection to the listing proposal. China was under enormous pressure from the international community to relent on the Azhar issue, but it could not afford to alienate its all-weather friend, Pakistan. At the same time, it was imperative for India and its allies to find a middle ground to break the deadlock. The removal of all ‘political’ references from the listing did the trick. Circumscribing Azhar’s sphere of operations and influence to parts of the subcontinent would not have justified designating him as an international terror mastermind. Most importantly, both India and China have tacitly recognised the primacy of mutual interests while reiterating zero tolerance to terrorism.

As expected, the BJP-led NDA government is taking credit for the breakthrough, even though the first proposal against Azhar was moved by India in 2009, when the UPA was at the helm. That had happened months after the Mumbai terror attacks, which were orchestrated by Jamaat-ud-Dawa head Hafiz Saeed. The latter had been promptly blacklisted by the UN in December 2008 as China had chosen to go along with other permanent members of the Security Council. In Azhar’s case, on the contrary, the Chinese wall had proved insurmountable until now. However, the job is still only half-done. No matter which political party comes to power in a few weeks, India should not take its foot off the pedal. The onus is on Pakistan to tighten the noose around Azhar. Here, too, China’s intervention can make a huge difference.

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