NEW DELHI: Pakistan-based terrorist Masood Azhar's designation as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council has been hailed across the globe. Union Minister Arun Jaitley has said, it a "win for every Indian", on Thursday. At the same time he hit out at the opposition for "shameful and regrettable" comments, it was reported.
The ban on Masood Azhar, JeM chief, came when China, which had earlier blocked the move to blacklist Masood Azhar four times, dropping its objections, said that they "found no objection after a careful study of revised materials".
Arun Jaitley added that China change of attitude "had certainly been impacted by the recent development, which includes both Pulwama and Balakot, especially since it was Masood Azhar's camp which was destroyed in Balakot."
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Answering sternly to the criticism that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP was misusing a diplomatic victory during elections, Jaitley further said: "Yes, this is a matter of international diplomacy... the only difference is that they (previous government) did so unsuccessfully and Modi ji did it successfully."
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India's Ambassador and Permanent Representative at the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin said it was a “significant outcome” for India. He said, “We have been persistent, diligent and in a subterranean manner, making all our efforts towards this goal. Today, the goal stands achieved.”
The French government also issued an official reaction on the matter, naming it a “Successful realization” of its efforts of several years. They further said, “We welcome the designation today, by the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee, of Masood Azhar on the UN ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List." Further adding on to the message, France said, “French diplomacy has been relentlessly pleading for sanctioning Azhar, head of the terrorist group responsible, notably, for the Pulwama attack last February. France had adopted national sanctions against Masood Azhar on 15th March,"
Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs Arun Jaitley said, "India stands vindicated. Masood Azhar is now a global terrorist. India is in safe hands. This marks a high point for the Prime Minister's foreign policy."
Garrett Marquis, spokesperson of the National Security Council, White House said, “Designating Azhar demonstrates international commitment to rooting out terrorism in Pakistan and bringing security and stability to south Asia”.
Background:
Masood Azhar's terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed was behind Pulwama terror attack wherein 40 Indian soldiers were killed in February. India sent fighter jets to Pakistan's Balakot to bomb a Jaish terror training camp weeks later, as a mark of retaliation.
In a few days of Pulwama attack, US, Britain and France had pushed a fresh proposal in the Security Council's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee. Pulwama was initially mentioned in the proposal but at the final stages it was not inducted in the resolution. This was being seen as a face-saver for Pakistan, which was already in negotiations to get its confidant ally China to stop blocking the move. Veto power was exercised by China in the UN Security Council to block the move to blacklist Azhar on “technical hold" pretext and asked for "more time to examine" the proposal.
This decision by United Nations means a complete freeze on Masood Azhar's finances, assets, a travel ban and an arms embargo.