Beijing: China dismissed Wednesday reports that it had been served an ultimatum until April 23 by the US, UK and France to lift its ‘technical hold’ on designating Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist but claimed that the vexed issue is moving towards settlement.
After the Pulwama attack, a fresh proposal to designate Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council (UNSC) was moved by France, the UK and the US. However, China blocked the bid by putting a ‘technical hold’ on the proposal. Following this, the US backed by the UK and France moved directly to UNSC to blacklist Azhar.
Reacting to reports Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said, “I don’t know where you get such information.”
He said both the UNSC and its subsidiary body 1267 Committee have clear rules and procedures. “You need to get clarification from the sources about where you get such information. China’s position is very clear. This issue should be resolved through cooperation. We don’t believe that any efforts without the consensus of members will achieve satisfying results,” Kang pointed out.
“On the issue of listing Azhar, China’s position remains unchanged. We also stay in communication with relevant parties. The matter is moving towards the direction of settlement. “The relevant parties are forcing new resolution through the UN Security Council. We firmly oppose that,” added Kang.
Without directly referring to the US, Lu said, “We hope the relevant country can respect the opinion of most members of the UNSC to act in a cooperative manner and help this issue be properly resolved within the framework of the 1267 Committee.”