Pakistan Wanted Masood Azhar Ban Deferred Fearing It Could Benefit PM Modi In Lok Sabha Elections

As their resistance to block attempts to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UNSC neared the point of saturation, Pakistan and China, at the least, wanted United Nations to designate the JeM as a global terrorist only after the Indian elections, reports Hindustan Times.

According to the report, Pakistan was wary that terror listing of Azhar, during the ongoing Indian general elections, could benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi to assume a second term in the office.

Pakistan’s all-weather ally China had proposed to lift its technical hold on the Azhar ban around 15 May before the last round of polling for the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections. Thanks to US’ lead role in nudging down China on the same issue, 1 May was selected as a date for the fresh proposal of listing Azhar as global terrorist.

Between 2016-2019, China had already blocked three attempt to sanction Masood Azhar. India with its key allies - US, France and UK - showed some fine diplomatic finesse and provided foolproof evidences to establish the role of Azhar’s JeM outfit’s role in various terror attacks on its soil.