India approaches UN to include JeM and Masood Azhar in Security Council's 1267 sanctions list

NEW DLEHI: India has approached the UN to include Jaish-e-Mohammad chief and Pathankot terror attack mastermind Masood Azhar in the Security Council's 1267 sanctions list and emphasised the urgency to take action against him.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin Friday wrote to New Zealand Ambassador Gerard Jacoubus van Bohemen, the Chair of the 1267 al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee, submitting India's request that the JeM chief's name be included in the committee's sanctions list.

Armed with strong evidence of the outfit's terror activities and its role in the 2 January Pathankot attack that killed seven Indian soldiers, India told the UN Sanctions Committee that not listing Azhar has clearly demonstrated how it and other countries in South Asia continue to face threats posed by the terror group and its leader. India said it is the responsibility of the committee to protect UN nations and its citizens from terror groups like the JeM and its leaders.

Listing Azhar will prove that the global community is committed to tackling the scourge of terrorism and will help protect Indian citizens and those of other countries from the terror threats posed by him and his outfit, India said.

Earlier this week External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup had said in New Delhi that it is a "great anomaly" that the organisation JeM is listed but its leader is not.

The UN had banned JeM in 2001 but India's efforts to ban Azhar after the Mumbai terror attack did not fructify, as China - one of the five permanent members of the UN group with veto powers - did not allow the ban apparently on the behest of Pakistan.

On 18 February, a fresh list of 11 individuals and one organisation linked to terrorism in India, was also submitted by New Delhi to the 1267 sanctions committee.