This Article is From Mar 19, 2019

European Union Discusses Listing Masood Azhar As Terrorist

The initiative to blacklist Masood Azhar across Europe started days after China blocked the move to tag him a "global terrorist" by the United Nations Security Council.

European Union Discusses Listing Masood Azhar As Terrorist

Last week, France banned Jaish-e Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, putting a freeze on his assets.

New Delhi:

Talks are on at the European Union to list Jaish-e Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a terrorist, a spokesperson of the German Embassy told NDTV. A process is currently on to build consensus and getting all 28 member states on board may take some time, he added. Germany was one of the key countries that decided to co-sponsor the resolution on Masood Azhar at the UN Security Council last week and supports his listing at the European Union.

The initiative to blacklist Masood Azhar across Europe started days after China blocked the move to tag him a "global terrorist" by the United Nations Security Council.

Last week, France, which had moved the resolution at the UN, banned the Jaish chief at the national level, putting a freeze on his assets. Emmanuel Macron's government also said it would "raise the issue with our European partners" to include him in the list of people involved in terrorism.

The UN resolution -- originally brought forward by the US, UK and France -- had the backing of multiple nations.

But China, a permanent member of the Security Council and a self-described "all-weather ally" of Pakistan, had put a hold on the listing of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the 1267 sanctions committee.

In 2009 and 2016 too, China blocked India's proposal from being adopted by the Sanctions Committee. In 2017, Beijing blocked a move by the US, the UK and France to designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN.

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