India to persuade China on having JeM chief in UN terror list

NEW DELHI: India is pushing China for having Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar on the United Nations’ sanctions list against individuals and groups linked to terrorist groups al-Qaeda or Islamic State and also taking up the issue of illegal supply of arms to insurgents in the northeast.

Officials said home minister Rajnath Singh would urge Chinese President Xi Jinping’s top aide Meng Jianzhu that China should stop the practice of issuing stapled visas to people of Arunachal Pradesh, besides discussing ways of enhancing anti-terror cooperation when they meet in Delhi over dinner on Tuesday night.

As first reported by ET, Meng, secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China, will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and have talks with national security advisor Ajit Doval on Wednesday.

“All our concerns will be raised before the Chinese leader, who is in charge of internal security of that country,” an official said. The security cooperation agreement to be signed between the two countries will also be discussed.

China has twice blocked India’s efforts to include Azhar, alleged mastermind of the terror attacks on Pathankot air base and an army camp in Uri, in the UN’s sanctions list.

India had earlier expressed concern over the supply of Chinese arms and ammunition to insurgent groups operating in the northeast.

It also strongly objected to the practice of China issuing stapled visas to people belonging to Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.