According to News Agency Reuters, France has decided to freeze all the French assets of Jaish-e-Muhammad leader Masood Azhar. The decree was issued by France’s ministries of interior, foreign and finance. France has further said that it will be pushing to list Masood Azhar in the European Union’s list of people involved in terror activities.
https://twitter.com/htTweets/status/1106447945405091840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
France has decided to put sanctions on Masood Azhar at the national level after his terror group Jaish-e-Muhammad claimed responsibility for the dastardly attack in Pulwama in which 40 CRPF personnel lost their lives. The assailant who perpetrated the ghastly attack was ostensibly trained and indoctrinated by Masood Azhar’s proscribed terror group JeM.
https://twitter.com/FranceinIndia/status/1106454697781526528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
It is worthwhile to note that France was the country which moved the proposal to designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist in the United Nations Security Council. China, another permanent UNSC member and an all-weather ally of Pakistan chose to use its veto power to block his designation from the list.
France has been taking up the issue of prescribing the Jaish-e-Mohammad and its chief Masood Azhar intensively after the Pulwama attack. It is notable here that the P3 nations of the UNSC have tried four times to declare Masood Azhar a global terrorist. But each time the move has been blocked by China.
The US had stated recently that not declaring Masood Azhar a global terrorist is against regional stability and peace.