China has said that the issue of declaring Pakistan terror outfit, Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist “will be properly resolved”.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Tuesday said “relevant consultations” are in progress in the UN Sanctions Committee on the issue and “some progress” has been achieved.
“I can only say that I believe that this will be properly resolved,” Geng told in Beijing .
The issue of listing JeM chief as Azhar is expected to be taken up by the UNSC’s 1267 Sanctions Committee on Wednesday.
“Regarding the listing issue in the 1267 (Sanctions) Committee (of the UNSC), we have expressed our position many times and I just want to stress two points.
“First, we support the listing issue being settled within the 1267 Committee through dialogue and consultation and I believe this is the consensus of most members,” he said.
“Second, the relevant consultations are going on within the Committee and have achieved some progress. Third, I believe, with the joint efforts of all parties, this issue can be properly resolved,” Shuang added.
His response came amidst indications that China could lift its “technical hold” on listing of Azhar, whose outfit has allegedly carried out several terror attacks in India.
The terror group recently carried out a major attack at Pulwama in Jammu & Kashmir killing 40 security personnel.
China has been blocking Azhar’s listing despite a strong push by other permanent members of the UNSC like the US, UK and France.
The latest such action was taken by China last month, which was described by India as “disappointing”.