Sandeep Dikshit
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 28
India has sought to steer clear of a developing row between the US and China over a fresh move at the UN Security Council (UNSC) to blacklist Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar.
Caught in the tug-of-war between China and the US, Pakistan has sought to convey reasonableness and equanimity by asking India to submit more information about the Pulwama attacks.
China says the US is acting in haste by sponsoring a resolution at UNSC two weeks after it shot down a similar move on grounds that it needed time to study the blacklisting proposal.
As deliberations on UNSC listing proceedings are confidential, India has taken the stand that it would be inappropriate to comment at this stage on a process which is “entirely within the parameters of informal discussion of the Council and its members”.
China has reasons to be upset since this time the resolution has been introduced in the UNSC and not in the 1267 Committee on Al Qaida, Taliban and other proscribed organisations. This means, Beijing will have to publicly state its reasons for blocking Masood’s blacklisting.
Privately, China says Pakistan is committed to reining in the jehadi groups but wants the world community to give more time to the duo of PM Imran Khan and the army chief. It also wants the world community to address Pakistan’s complaint of cross-border terrorism, especially in Balochistan.
Pakistan, on the other hand, has washed its hands of involvement in the Pulwama attack, but is also giving the impression that the final word has not been said.
Its purported Wednesday night statement was released on Thursday shortly after news broke that the US had moved the UNSC to list Azhar. In an effort to relieve that pressure, Islamabad’s diplomatic corps was informed about the findings of the preliminary report as well as Pakistan’s “consistent commitment to cooperate” in the Pulwama probe.
No terror camps on 22 sites shared: Pak
- Pakistan said it examined the 22 “pin locations” shared by India but found no terror camps there
- It claimed it could not establish links between the 54 persons detained and the Pulwama terror attack
- Foreign Office said it was willing to allow visits, on request, to 22 locations
from The Tribune https://ift.tt/2uwm7Ut
via Today’s News Headlines
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