Masood Azhar issue heading towards settlement: China

China on Wednesday said the issue of blacklisting Masood Azhar at the UN panel was heading towards a settlement and asked the US not to force through its own resolution on the matter.

Beijing also rejected the report that the US, the UK andFrance asked China to lift the technical hold on Azhar by April 23, failingwhich they will move a formal resolution for discussion, vote and passage atthe UN Security Council (UNSC).

   

“On the issue of the listing of Masood Azhar, China’sposition remains unchanged. We are also having communication with relevantparties and the matter is moving towards the direction of settlement,”Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said here.

Asked to elaborate further, Lu did not answer clearly.

“The matter is now moving in the direction ofsettlement. As to the specifics for the discussion in the 1267 committee, thereare clear procedures and regulations regarding UNSC and its subsidiary bodies.We think members should follow and abide by such procedures.”

He was responding to a question whether anything wasachieved after China claimed “positive progress” on the issue ofdeclaring Azhar a terrorist.

China in the past has put four technical holds on theresolutions by India, the US, the UK and France to ban Azhar at the UN 1267sanctions committee.

Beijing’s latest technical hold came last month afterAzhar’s outfit claimed responsibility for the deadly attack in Jammu andKashmir that killed 40 CRPF personnel in February.

This prompted the US to draft a new resolution and take itdirectly to the Security Council for an informal discussion. Beijing slammedthe move, saying this will complicate matters when some progress has alreadybeen achieved.

Lu again reiterated it when asked if China will support sucha resolution in the Security Council.

“Regarding what you said relevant parties are forcing anew resolution through the Security Council. We firmly oppose that. In relevantdiscussions, most members expressed that this issue should be discussed withinthe 1267 committee and they don’t hope to bypass the 1267 committee to handlethe issue.

“We hope the relevant country can respect the opinionsof most members of the Security Council to act in a cooperative manner and tohelp resolve this issue properly within the framework of the 1267committee,” he added.

Asked if Beijing has been set a deadline of April 23 to liftthe technical hold on resolution banning Azhar at the 1267 committee, Lu said:”I don’t know from where you get such information, but the SecurityCouncil and it’s subsidiary bodies like the 1267 committee, they have clearrules of procedures and you have to seek clarification from thosesources.”

“China’s position is very clear. This issue should beresolved through cooperation and we don’t believe that any efforts without theconsensus of most members will achieve satisfying results.”

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