India confident of UN terror tag on Azhar

Calling for immediate action to be taken against Masood Azhar, chief of Pakistan based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), by the al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee, India has expressed hope that name of JeM’s chief would be included in the UN list of designated terrorists by 1267 Committee. India has accused that Mr Azhar was the mastermind behind Pathankot terror attack on January 2. Well equipped with strong evidence of JeM’s terror activities and its involvement in the Pathankot attack, India told the UN Sanctions Committee that not listing Azhar has clearly demonstrated how it and other countries in South Asia continue to face threats posed by the terror group and its leader.
India’s permanent representative to UN Syed Akbaruddin has filed India’s submission under the resolution on February 26. India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said: “The documents are currently being examined by the technical body, Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, following which they will move for vote by the 15 members of the UN Security Council who sit on the 1267 committee.”

Not too many members are expected to oppose the Indian move following Pathankot terror attack that killed seven India soldiers. The UN committee has already banned JeM group, but in 2015, India’s move to curb the movements of Masood Azhar was objected by China.

Pakistan’s foreign affairs advisor to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had recently announced that Mr Azhar had been detained and an investigation team would visit India in the next few days to investigate the Pathankot attacks.

India has not received any official confirmation so far about when the investigating team would visit Pathankot. Pakistan is under pressure from the international community to crack down on terror outfits based on its soil as neighbouring countries continue to face threats from those terror groups.

Earlier, neither terror group nor its chief was named in an FIR registered in Pakistan to probe Pathankot terror strike.

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