Days after China blocked at the United Nations to ban Jaish-e-Mohammad Chief Masood Azhar, India has slammed the use of hidden veto and demanded accountability. India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Syed Akbaruddin told the UN Security Council in New York that the world body’s general members are never informed of the reason for not acceding to requests for sanctioning terrorists.
Mr Akbaruddin said this in an open debate on ‘Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts’. He said, the procedures of unanimity and anonymity of the Al Qaeda, Taliban and Islamic State Sanctions Committees need to be revisited.
Mr Akbaruddin said, counter terror mechanisms such as the Sanctions Committees that act on behalf of the international community need to build trust not engender impunity by the use of this form of a hidden veto. After the attack on the airbase in Pathankot in January, India had in February written to the UN calling for immediate action to list Masood Azhar under the UN Sanctions Committee.
All were told that if there are no objections, the designation will be announced after the expiry of the deadline, but just hours before the deadline, China requested the UN committee to keep on hold the designation. China had said, any listing would have to meet the requirements, stressing that it was the Council members’ responsibility to ensure that the criteria were followed.