"Unfortunate," Says India As China Halts Move On Masood Azhar's Brother At UN: "Will Pursue"

"International community has been unable to speak in one common voice," says India's foreign ministry

A day after China stopped a joint India-US bid at the UN to place sanctions on Abdul Rauf Asghar, the Jaish-e-Mohammed's second-in-command, India's foreign ministry said it regrets the "hold" and will keep seeking action.  

"India will continue pursuing its principled position of bringing these terrorists to justice, including through the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Regime," said Arindam Bagchi, the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson. "We note with regret that a 'technical hold' has been placed on the listing proposal," he added.

"It is unfortunate that when it comes to our collective battle against terrorism, the international community has been unable to speak in one common voice," he further said.  

Abdul Rauf Asghar is involved in the planning and execution of numerous terror attacks, according to Indian authorities. These include hijacking of Indian Airlines aircraft IC814 (1999) - when India had to release his elder brother Masood Azhar to get the hostages back from Afghanistan - besides the attack on the Indian Parliament (2001) and on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot (2016).