Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar has been listed as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council. The UNSC move is a huge diplomatic win for India as China, which had blocked the move to list Masood Azhar as global terrorist four times, finally lifted its hold.
The UNSC decision will lead to the freezing of assets and finances of Masood Azhar.
The US, Britain and France, along with India, had consistently put pressure on Beijing to change its stand.
"Big, small, all join together. Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist in @UN Sanctions list. Grateful to all for their support," India's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin tweeted.
In 2009, India moved a proposal by itself to designate Azhar.
In 2016 again India moved the proposal with the P3 - the United States, the United Kingdom and France in the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee to ban Azhar, also the mastermind of the attack on the air base in Pathankot in January, 2016.
In 2017, the P3 nations moved a similar proposal again. However, on all occasions China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, blocked India's proposal from being adopted by the Sanctions Committee.
Keeping up the international pressure to designate Azhar as a global terrorist, the US, supported by France and the UK, moved a draft resolution directly in the UN Security Council to blacklist the Pakistan-based terror organization's head.
Beijing lifting its hold is a massive diplomatic win for India, which had relentlessly pursued the matter with its international allies. There had been sustained international pressure on China, particularly from the US, to remove its objection to Azhar's listing.
Hectic discussions between New Delhi, Washington, New York and Beijing had ensued after the March 13 hold by Beijing as it was clear that India will not relent on the matter.
Diplomats at the UN's principal organ had warned that responsible member-states of the Security Council may be forced to pursue other actions if China continued to block moves to designate Azhar as a global terrorist.
On Tuesday, China said that the issue of designating Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN will be "properly resolved" but it did not give any timeline, days after Chinese President Xi Jinping met Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in Beijing.
China put a technical hold in March on a fresh proposal to impose a ban on the head of Pakistan-based JeM which claimed responsibility for the deadly Pulwama terror attack. It was for the fourth time, China blocked Azhar's listing as a global terrorist by the UN.
Though China can exercise its veto power as a permanent member of the UNSC, Beijing has staunchly opposed the issue to be taken to the apex UN body as it has to publically explain its stand on its reservations to list Azhar, whose group JeM has already been designated as terror outfit by UN, before exercising its veto.
China has accused the US of scuttling progress to resolve the issue by taking it to the UNSC and insisted that it should be resolved at the 1267 Committee whose proceedings are not publicised.
The efforts to resolve Azhar's listing issue gathered momentum last week with the visit of Imran Khan to Beijing to attend China's 2nd Belt and Road Forum (BRF) which was held here from April 25-27.
During the visit, Khan held talks with Xi, besides meeting Premier Li Keqiang and Vice President Wang Qishan during which India-Pakistan tension following the Pulwama terror attack as well as listing of Azhar reportedly figured.
—With inputs from PTI
