UNITED NATIONS – The chief of Jaish-i-Mohammed, Masood Azhar was apparently exonerated of allegations regarding the Pulwama attack in Indian-Occupied Kashmir, before he was designated a global terrorist by the United Nations Security Council.
A resolution tabled at 1267 Sanctions Committee on Wednesday did not attribute Pulwama attack or the terror in Kashmir to Masood Azhar, in a diplomatic win for both Pakistan and China.
Azhar has been declared a global terrorist for multiple allegations except the ones vehemently propagated by India in the aftermath of Pulwama attack in which over 40 Indian soldiers were left dead in February this year.
According to the resolution tabled by the UK, US, France and co-sponsored by India, the listing of JeM chief refers to him being associated with Al-Qaida for “participating in the financing, planning, facilitating, preparing, or perpetrating of acts or activities by, in conjunction with, under the name of, on behalf of, or in support of”, “supplying, selling or transferring arms and related material to”, “recruiting for”, “otherwise supporting acts or activities of”, and “other acts or activities indicating association with”: Jaish-i-Mohammed.
On the UN’s official website, a mention of 155 hostages has also been made and the subsequent release of Azhar from a prison in India, however, much to the dismay of New Delhi, no reference to the Pulwama attack or the Kashmir has been made against Azhar.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/jem-chief-masood-azhar-declared-global-terrorist-as-china-withdraws-opposition/
Though India pins blame on Masood Azhar for carrying out the Pulwama attack, he himself denied playing any part.
In a major disappointment to India, an earlier resolution with the mention of Pulwama attack was blocked by China in March, however, the fresh one apparently absolves him of such charges deemed to be backtracking by India which has been accusing Pakistan of terrorism without any evidence.
The Editor of leading Indian paper, The Hindu, Suhasini Haidar also confirmed that the Pulwama attack charges were dropped against Azhar for the UNSC terror listing.
https://twitter.com/suhasinih/status/1123594452843417600?s=19&fbclid=IwAR3NSRx6wi1TvweNGf1vQT0oXcGTQqPWuWIZdLjFVp4gIuMkec-sG2UJEGY
The listing does not come as a surprise as Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan discussed the issue with the Chinese leadership during a recent four-day tour, contrary to the fact that New Delhi is trying to portray the development as a diplomatic set back for Islamabad.
The recent statements from Pakistan’s Army Chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa and premier Imran Khan implied that the country was improving its anti-terror policies, clamping down on all types of extremist organizations.
