Hours after India expressed disappointment over China’s decision of putting a hold on the request for listing Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) 1267 Sanctions Committee, JeM mouthpiece has claimed that he is alive.
To put the rumours of his death to rest, the JeM chief has written an article in the JeM mouthpiece claiming that he was in perfect health as reported by India Today. Azhar reportedly glorified the Pulwama terror attack remembering Adil Ahmed Dar, the terrorist who carried out the attack. Azhar wrote that the fire ignited by Dar will be not be extinguished. After the air strikes by the Indian Air Force on JeM training camps in Balakot, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had admitted that Azhar was in Pakistan and unwell to the extent that he was not able to move out his house. He also said that the Pakistani government was in touch with JeM leadership.
However, Qureshi’s statement was contradicted by Major General Asif Ghafoor of Pakistan Army in an interview where he outrightly denied the existence of JeM in Pakistan. Pakistan has been lying blatantly on the issue of terrorism on its soil. This has made it difficult for India to trust Pakistan’s talks of establishing peace.
Meanwhile, according to the statement of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India will keep making efforts to get Azhar sanctioned at the UN.
“We are disappointed by this outcome. We will continue to pursue all available avenues to ensure that terrorist leaders involved in heinous attacks on our citizens are brought to justice,” said the statement of the MEA.
This is not the first time that China is obstructing the listing of Azhar as a global terrorist at the United Nations, it has put a hold on similar requests three times in the past.
