On Wednesday, US along with France and Britain support drafted a resolution that it circulated to the 15 member council UNSC for the designation of ‘Global Terrorist’ for JeM Chief Masood Azhar. Earlier, 14 out of 15 UNSC members had supported the ban on Azhar. However, China put a technical hold on the ban hence, preventing his listing.
It was for the fourth time that China blocked the move. This time, China Foreign Ministry spokeperson, Lu Kang, justified its move saying, “It needs in-depth investigation into the matter before Masood Azhar listing.”
Nonetheless, the resolution passed by US, France and UK might be a ray of hope for banning of the mastermind behind the heinous Pulwama attack. It is so because, passing of the resolution doesn’t require a consensus, it just needs votes of 9 out of 15 members.
It will be a major diplomatic victory for India if this resolution is passed. Passing of the resolution will mean subjection of Masood Azhar to ‘arms embargo, travel ban and asset freezing.’
AlsoRead: China might change its stance on Masood Azhar: Reports
China has previously indicated that it might change its stance on Azhar. The only condition it put forward in front of the members of Council was to come up with the right language. However, the negotiators did not get the language right.