He is the first terrorist to be sanctioned by the UNSC on the basis of a proposal directly from the Indian side
India on Tuesday welcomed the listing of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader Abdul Rehman Makki by the UN Security Council (UNSC).

Makki, who is the brother-in-law of LeT leader Hafeez Sayeed, has occupied various leadership roles leadership roles in the terror outfit, including raising funds for the organisation.

Significantly, he is the first terrorist to be sanctioned by the UNSC on the basis of a proposal directly from the Indian side; the US joined as a 'co-designating state'. It is noteworthy that India had made the listings of Pak based terrorists a top priority of its UNSC tenure during 2021-22.

"We welcome the decision of the UN Security Council's ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee to list Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki, who is also the brother-in-law of LeT leader Hafiz Saeed," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in response to media queries on the development.

Makki has occupied various leadership roles in LeT, including raising funds for the organisation, he added.

Threats from terrorist organisations in the region remain high and listings and sanctions by the UNSC, are an effective tool to curb such threats and dismantle terror infrastructure in the region, he pointed out.

According to Bagchi, "India remains committed to pursuing a zero tolerance approach to terrorism and will continue to press the international community to take credible, verifiable and irreversible action against terrorism".

People familiar with the matter said that during 2022, five names were submitted by India for designation - Abdul Rehman Makki (LeT), Abdul Rauf Asghar (JeM), Sajid Mir (LeT), Shahid Mahmood (LeT), and Talha Saeed (LeT).

Each of these five names were initially placed on technical hold by one member state, China, while all other 14 members of the UN Security Council agreed to their listing.

Under UNSC rules governing the process, a technical hold can last for up to six months at a time. In other words, this effectively blocks a listing proposal until the technical hold is withdrawn.

Makki’s case was submitted on June 1, 2022 by India with the US joining as a co-designating state.

It is learnt that China placed a technical hold on this process on June 16, 2022. It renewed the hold in mid-December, after the six-month period ended, before deciding to withdraw it.

According to people who tracked the process, Makki’s listing was the culmination of long-standing and persistent efforts with partner countries over several months.

Even though the successful listing comes just after India left the UN Security Council, this was a culmination of long standing and persistent efforts made over the last several months, along with partner countries.