An amicable way out

Finally, Masood Azhar is on the UN Security Council’s list of global terrorists, and a long-lingering issue is over and done with. Under the listing, Azhar will be subject to assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. Between 2009 and now, five attempts had been led by India to put the Jaish-e-Mohammad chief on the UNSC’s counterterrorism sanctions list, but all except the latest one — coming in on May 1, 2019 — were blocked by China on technical grounds. China only lifted the technical hold in the wake of a major diplomatic compromise with the movers of the resolution — the US, the UK and France — seeking Azhar’s designation. The compromise led to the movers revising the resolution, clearing it of all references to the uprising in India-occupied Kashmir, the Pulwama incident and Pakistani state institutions, especially those linking the Kashmiris’ struggle for self-determination to terrorism.

While Azhar’s lisitng was long time coming, the fact that he was delinked with what India calls terrorism is something that does translate into a diplomatic victory for Pakistan. The long-pending listing row settled cordially without affecting the Pakistan-China friendship in what must have dashed India’s hopes to see a wedge between the two all-weather friends. That Prime Minister Modi is still celebrating his ‘diplomatic success’ must be seen in the context of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Our Foreign Office has rightly described the Indian celebrations as ‘absolutely false and baseless’ and vowed to continue supporting the Kashmiri freedom movement through moral, political and diplomatic means.

China indeed managed an amicable way out of the decade-long deadlock. Alongside thwarting the India-led attempts to malign Pakistan and the legitimate freedom struggle in Kashmir, Beijing demonstrated to the world its resolve to fight terrorism and its aiders and abettors. The global superpower rivalling the US utilised its power potential, forcing the movers of the resolution against the JeM chief to correct the relevant materials and re-submit them for the sanctioning exercise — all for the sake of Pak-China friendship that is indeed higher than the Himalayas, deeper than the oceans and sweeter than honey.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2019.

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