China has blocked US's attempt to get Pakistan-based terrorist Hafiz Saeed's son Hafiz Talha on the United Nation's blacklist. Talha is said to be a key leader in Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terror outfit that has been accused of carrying out several attacks on India. Saeed is the mastermind of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
This is for the second time in two days that China put a hold on attempts to blacklist Talha after India and US submitted a proposal to designate Talha as a 'global terrorist'.
India, in its notification, had said that Talha was "actively involved in recruitment, fund collection, and planning and executing attacks by the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in India" "He has also been actively visiting various LeT centres across Pakistan, and during his sermons propagating for jihad against India, Israel, the United States of America and Indian interests in other western countries, " PTI quoted the notification by India's ministry of home affairs.
India declared Talha a terrorist in April this year, while his father, Hafiz Saeed, was sentenced to 32 years in jail by Pakistan's anti-terror court around same time for his involvement in terror funding cases. India and the US had sought to blacklist Talha under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.
As India attempts to bring the LeT leader on the UN's blacklist, here is what it would mean for the terror outfit:
What happens when a group or a person is put on UN's blacklist?
When a person or an organisation is put on a blacklist, the authority enlisting the see them as people who cannot be trusted or have been involved in an illegal activity.
Under the United Nation's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions, a blacklisted person or organisation can face a travel ban with their assets being freezed as well.
"All states are required to freeze without delay the funds and other financial assets or economic resources of designated individuals and entities. All states are required to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories by designated individuals," the UNSC website defines the sanctions. It also adds that the blacklisted person will not be allowed to use the state territories
Under the arms embargo, no direct or indirect sale and transfer of arms will be allowed to the banned groups or individuals.
The decision to blacklist a person or a group is taken with the consensus of all the 15 members of the UNSC.
Has China blocked such proposals before?
Since June this year, China has blocked four proposals to enlist Pakistan-based terrorists under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee regime. In June, China put on hold the proposal given by India and the US to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki, who is a US-designated terrorist and brother-in-law of Saeed.
In August, China blocked another joint proposal to blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), a Pakistan-based terror outfit. Azhar was sanctioned by the US in December 2010 for "acting for or on behalf of JEM".
Last month, the US has moved a proposal, which was supported by India, to designate LeT terrorist Sajid Mir a global terrorist for his involvement in 26/11 Mumbai terrorist. However, China put on hold that proposal as well.
Late last week, US president Joe Biden termed Pakistan "one of the most dangerous countries in the world".
"Did anybody think we'd be in a situation where China is trying to figure out its role relative to Russia and relative to India and relative to Pakistan? How do we handle that? How do we handle that relative to what's going on in Russia? And what I think is maybe one of the most dangerous nations in the world: Pakistan. Nuclear weapons without any cohesion," Biden was quoted as saying in California.