India presses case against Masood
India said on Thursday that international failure to act against terror would send a “dangerous message” and sought “action” against the Pakistan-based terror outfits.
The Ministry of External Affairs urged the international community to “nudge” Pakistan to act against terrorists responsible for cross-border attacks even as a debate broke out in Pakistan on the need to crack down on the terror groups. “We conveyed to the 1267 Committee of the United Nations that it is expected to proscribe Masood Azhar under the 1267 Sanction Regime on the basis of our submission. This would help send a strong signal to all terror groups that the international community is no longer going to pursue, or tolerate, selective approaches to terrorism,” said Vikas Swarup, spokesperson of the Ministry.
Seeks reforms to U.N. panel
India told the 1267 Committee of the United Nations in March that it had proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammed but did not suggest the need to act against its “main leader, financier and motivator” Masood Azhar. India had sent the request to the committee following the January 2 Pathankot attack which it blamed on the outfit. India also blamed the September 18 Uri attack on the group. However, the bid to designate Masood Azhar as an international terrorist has run into difficulty, with China extending its technical hold on India’s submission.
Seeking reform of the working of the committee, Vikas Swarup, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs External Affairs, said the committee was non-transparent and it had to address procedural shortcomings.
“The root cause of tension is Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism. To the extent that the international community also speaks in one voice, to that extent Pakistan can be nudged to give up support to such pernicious activities,” he said.
In Pakistan, a major debate has broken out after Dawn, a prominent newspaper, reported that Pakistan’s Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry told the military and intelligence leadership that Pakistan would risk international isolation if it failed to contain terror organisations such as Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar -e-Taiba and the Haqqani Network. In its report on a special briefing that Mr Chaudhry gave for a group of military and civilian officials, the newspaper said Mr. Chaudhry asked the ISI and the military to stop supporting cross-border terrorism.
India has termed the report “speculative,” but the report was echoed by prominent leader of Pakistan Peoples Party Aitzaz Ahsan who said Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Afghanistan left Pakistan. “Nawaz Sharif did not anticipate the Uri attack. Our Defence Minister said that perhaps India itself did it to divert attention away from Kashmir. I agree, it is possible; but then, why is it Pakistan which is isolated now? It is because you have given freedom to non-state actors,” Mr. Ahsan said.
Source: The Hindu
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