France to move UNSC with more information against JeM chief Masood Azhar

France, armed with fresh information on Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar and his family members who are active in the group, is planning to move a new proposal in the UN Security Council (UNSC) to designate the terror mastermind with support from the European bloc in the UNSC.

ET has learnt that France has gathered fresh information on Azhar and the role of his family members in the group to counter Chinese attempts to block the JeM chief ’s UN listing on the ground that he is no longer associated with the proscribed group. The proposal will be moved in the UNSC soon.

France is moving as P-3 bloc in UNSC with the two other members being the USA and UK. This is being backed by Germany, Poland and Belgium -- three non-permanent members in the UNSC from Europe.


France is leading the effort like it did last week in getting the UNSC to issue a statement condemning the Pulwama attack and naming JeM. ET has learnt that India is assisting France to gather evidence on Jaish chief. Russia, another UNSC permanent member, separately has been supportive of the UNSC efforts to list Masood Azhar.

In 2017, the US, supported by the UK and France, moved a proposal at the UN’s Sanctions Committee 1267 to ban the chief of the Pakistan-based terror outfit, but the proposal was blocked by China. After the recent Pulwama attack, China has again reiterated its position. Since 2010, China has been blocking efforts in the UNSC to list the Jaish chief.

The Balakot JeM facility which the Indian Air Force targeted in the wee hours of Tuesday was headed by Maulana Yousuf Azhar (alias Ustad Ghouri), brother-in-law of Azhar.

Last week’s UNSC statement on JeM was not without roadblocks created by China to the draft initiated by France. Beijing objected to the description of Jaish-e-Mohammed as ‘Pakistanbased’. It has also desired that Jammu and Kashmir be referred as ‘Indianadministered’ Kashmir.