China has opposed a proposal to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) deputy chief as a global terrorist

India on Friday called it unfortunate that the international community fails to speak in one common voice when it comes to the collective battle against terrorism.

The response from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) came in the wake of China once again putting a technical hold on a listing proposal by India and the US at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to designate Abdul Rauf Azhar, deputy chief of the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and brother of its chief Masood Azhar, as a global terrorist.

MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi also said that he has been proscribed under Indian and US laws already, and therefore the placing of the technical hold against such wanted terrorist is most uncalled for.

"We note with regret that a technical hold has been placed on the listing proposal for Abdul Rauf Asghar. It's unfortunate that when it comes to our collective battle against terrorism the international community has been unable to speak in one common voice," he said in response to a question at the weekly media briefing in New Delhi.

JeM is a UN proscribed entity and the proposal was moved by India and co-sponsored by the US, to list Abdul Rauf Asghar in the UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee.

Azhar, who is referred to as Abdul Rauf Asghar in the UN document, has been a part of planning and executing several terror attacks which includes the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 (1999), attack on Parliament (2001), terror attack on Indian Army camp in Kathua (2014) and attack on the Indian Air Force base in Pathankot (2016), according to the MEA spokesperson.

Bagchi said that India's permanent representative in the UN, New York during UN Security Council open debate on 9th of August had flagged this concern categorically to all members.

"Our permanent representative has put it clear that there should be no double standards in dealing with terrorist. The practice of putting holds and blocks without any justification must end. It's regrettable that most genuine and evidence based proposals pertaining to some notorious terrorists in the world are being placed on hold. Double standards and continuing politicisation have rendered the credibility of the sanctions regime at an all-time low."

He also maintained that it is unfortunate that the sanctions committee has been prevented from playing its role due to political considerations.

"Such actions expose double standards when it comes to the international community’s shared battle against terrorism. Such politically motivated actions in nearly every listing case undermine the entire sanctity of the working methods of the UNSC Sanctions Committees," he said.

Nonetheless, China has placed a technical hold by saying that it needs more time to assess the application to designate Asghar as a global terrorist.

All the 14 member states of the UN Security Council were supportive of the listing proposal.

To put this in context, this is China’s second hold in three months against the global list of a Pakistan-based terrorists.

In June this year, China placed on hold a joint proposal by India and the US to list the deputy chief of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), Abdul Rehman Makki, in the sanctions list.