China’s default position on Pak terror is block India
The blocking of the US-India joint proposal before the UNSC 1267 committee to designate 26/11 killer Sajid Mir as a global terrorist by China indicates that when it comes to Pakistan-based terrorists targeting India, obstruction is the default position of Beijing without going into the merits or demerits of the submission.
Mir was part of the Pakistani ISI-conceived Karachi Project, whose demon child Indian Mujahideen terror group killed nearly 1,000 innocent Indians from 2005 to 2011 through IED blasts.
On the instructions of Beijing, the Chinese representative in the UN put the Mir proposal on hold after the designation of two more Pakistani terrorists—Lashkar-e-Toiba’s financier Abdul Rehman Makki and Jaish-e-Mohammed operational commander Mufti Rauf Azhar—were put on technical hold at the UNSC by Xi Jinping regime.
This means that the pending proposal of France-India joint proposal to designate Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed killers Mohiuddin Alamgir and Ali Kashif Jan as global terrorists by the 1267 committee will also be blocked by China soon. By doing this, the Xi Jinping regime is sending a message to India that terrorism is your problem and hence you sort it out.
It is also a low-cost option for China to appease its client state Pakistan rather than allow it to renegotiate the power projects with Chinese companies as part of mandatory condition for a much-needed IMF loan by Islamabad. Pakistan is deep under debt due to gold plated power projects set up with the help of Chinese companies on high interest loans and high cost of electricity.
Although China may feel that it is a low-cost option, the Narendra Modi government takes terrorism very seriously and such actions from Beijing will further add bitterness to already a sour bilateral relationship. The hold on Makki, Azhar and Mir will also complicate China’s relationship with US and France as Mir was training French jihadists in early 2000 and was responsible for killing US nationals in the 26/11 attack.
It is understood that China’s “no limits” friend Russia is no longer a safe bet for India to become a co-sponsor for designation by the 1267 committee. Britain, which still thinks is the last word on the Af-Pak region, has also been dilly-dallying on these proposals given its close relationship with Rawalpindi.