China opposes JeM ban, invites wrath of India

Expressing disappointment over China's move to block India's proposal to ban the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and its chief, Maulana Masood Azhar, defence expert Qamar Agha on Friday said that such a move exposes Beijing's 'duality' as they themselves are victims of 'militancy'.

Agha further described Beijing's stand on JeM as 'surprising' and expressed the hope that China would correct its path and start cooperating with India on the issue of terrorism.

"China is our neighbour, we want to have closer ties with them, but yet they are preventing this. JeM is an organisation which is involved in several militant attempts in India. We were hoping that China would come forward. China themselves are victims of militancy," he told ANI.

"This is the duality of their stand, they are suffering from militancy, which is coming from Pakistan. They want those groups which operate in their territory to be contained, while they do not care about those operating against India," he added.

In a major disappointment for India, China collaborated with Pakistan to block New Delhi's proposal to ban Masood Azhar.

Following the attack on the Indian Air Force Base in Pathankot killing seven Indian military personnel, India called on the United Nations for immediate action to list Azhar under the al-Qaida Sanctions Committee.

According to sources, 14 out of 15 countries were willing to designate Azhar but China alone decided to go against all the others in the bid.

The US, UK and France had strongly supported the move and the other nations had also expressed their consent to proceed with the action on Azhar.

But China, one of the five permanent members of the UN group with veto powers, collaborated with Pakistan to block the bid, sources add.

China is now the only country that has stood up for Masood Azhar more than once.