Chinese Veto on Masood and JeM
:Naveen
The Chinese have yet again vetoed a security council proposal to ban Maulana Masood Azhar, leader of the banned outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad. This move has come at a time when India has been pushing for JeM leader’s ban while China has been calling for ‘more technical details’.
Who is Masood Azhar? What is JeM?
Maulana Masood Azhar is founder and leader of JeM, a terrorist outfit based in Pakistan and responsible for 2001 Parliament attack as well as 2008 Mumbai attacks.
JeM is a banned outfit whose motive is to ‘free’ Jammu & Kashmir from India and merge it with Pakistan. It should be noted here that JeM operates from Pakistan while another group Hizbul Mujahideen, whose commander Burhan Wani was killed by Security forces last year, operates within Kashmir. The goal of both the outfits is however the same.
Why would China oppose a resolution against terror?
This has various explanations. China is on its way to complete CPEC, its most ambitious project in Pakistan. However the safety of this project lies in the hands of Pakistani army as well as various terrorist organizations in Pakistan, of which JeM is one. It is therefore an attempt of China to save its project. Secondly China doesn’t wants to offend “Kashmir wanting Pakistanis” whom it sees an effective weapon against India. Finally, China wants to keep India busy in order to contain any potential Indian threat to its own hegemony.
What can India do?
The UNSC is the most important body which could have dealt with such a situation. India now has few options-
- It could somehow persuade China to its stance, which as of now seems impossible
- It could act in an adventurous manner and carry on an assassination attempt
- It could use bilateral/multilateral negotiations and issue Anti-masood statements
- It could try and satisfy China’s ‘technical scruple’
To Conclude:
It is true that the war against Terrorism is slowing down globally, as evident in Syria. It would be therefore too optimistic for India to hope too much from other countries and pursue its war against terrorism by working along various countries. This will also provide India a better chance to raise this issue in a more substantial way