By Abdul Gani
GUWAHATI, India (AA) – Indian Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar has discussed the issue of designating Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a terrorist during his official visit to China, according to the Ministry of External Affairs Wednesday.
Jaishankar also discussed the issue of India’s membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the ministry said in a statement released from the capital New Delhi.
“On the issue of the 1267 Committee sanctions on Masood Azhar, we again explained to them the rationale for that application and pointed out today that this was really being pursued by other countries, not by India alone.
“The fact that other countries were pressing this application showed that there was broad international support for this and concerns about Masood Azhar’s activities,” the statement said.
On Dec. 30, 2016, China — a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council — blocked India’s proposal to list Azhar as a designated terrorist by the global body.
India accuses the militant of being the mastermind of several terror attacks on its territory and has been trying to persuade China to change its course on the issue for quite some time.
About the NSG membership, Jaishankar said: “The Chinese side underlined that they were open to India’s application for membership but they had their view of procedures and processes and these were somewhat different from where we are at the moment and where we think most of the group is at the moment,” according to the statement.
Anirban Roy, an Indian journalist and analyst, said India needs to learn how to play smart diplomacy.
“These two are the Asian giants and it’s quite obvious what we have seen over the years. China will never let India go pass them. However, having said that this is high time India needs to play it smartly and position themselves in the global platform,” Roy told Anadolu Agency.
