“If Indian Opposition Doesn’t Consider Masood Azhar A Terrorist, Why Should We?”: Did China Say This?

A viral post on social media claiming that "China has said in the United Nations (UN) that if the Indian Opposition does not consider Masood Azhar a terrorist why should they designate him a global terrorist" is false.

The claim is viral as part of a photo collage of three pictures, China's president Xi Jinping on the left, Azhar on the right, and an image below of opposition leaders standing together and joining hands with the text in Hindi, "चीन ने UN में तर्क दिया कि अगर भारत का विपक्ष ही मसुद को आतंकी नहीं मानता तो हम कैसे मानें..."

This roughly translates to "China has said in the UN that if the Indian Opposition does not consider Masood Azhar a terrorist why should we?"

Click here to view the post, and here to view an archive.

The post was shared by a Facebook page named, 'देशहित की बात' and has garnered around one thousand shares and 543 reactions as of writing this piece.

BOOM even received the same image our WhatsApp helpline number (7700906111) enquiring if it was true.

FACT-CHECK

On March 13, 2019, China exercised its veto and blocked a proposal in the UN to designate Masood Azhar a global terrorist (Read more here)

The proposal to designate Azhar was moved by France, the UK, and the US on February 27 under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UNSC. (Read more here)

BOOM checked the statement given by China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lu Kang on March 14, 2019, on the matter and no where does it state or mention the Indian opposition.

"We still need more time and that is why we decided to put a technical hold on it. It complies with the rules of procedure of the 1267 Committee," foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said on blocking the proposal to designate Azhar a global terrorist.

Read the complete statement here.