Masood Azhar is “proven threat”, why would China give him “terror pass”?: WSJ

Wall Street Journal questioned China’s blocking of another move at the UN to designate Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist”, stating that Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad chief is a “proven threat” and Beijing is “loath to upset” its “all-weather” friendship with Islamabad.

“…Azhar is a proven threat. Why would China give him a terror pass?,” the Editorial Board of Wall Street Journal questioned.

The Editorial Board of the leading US daily in its editorial piece titled ‘China Shields a Jihadist — Beijing blocks a UN attempt to sanction the Kashmir killer’, said without meaningful global action against jihadist enclaves in Pakistan, India may “understandably conclude it has few options other than a military escalation”.

“Beijing is loath to upset what it calls its ‘all- weather’ friendship with Pakistan, and one reason is strategic. The US cut military aid to Islamabad last year after President (Donald) Trump cited its support of terrorists in Afghanistan, and China wants to fill the gap,” it said.

“Without meaningful global action against jihadist enclaves in Pakistan, New Delhi may understandably conclude it has few options other than a military escalation,” it added.

The proposal to designate Azhar under the 1267 al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council was moved by France, the UK and the US on February 27, days after the Pulwama terror attack which killed forty Indian soldiers. However, the move was blocked by China in terms of “technical” issues.

It is for the fourth time that China has blocked a bid in the United Nations (UN) Security Council to designate Azhar as a “global terrorist”.