UNITED NATIONS, Jan 17: In a major diplomatic victory for India, Abdul Rehman Makki was designated a global terrorist by the UN after China lifted its hold on a joint India-US proposal to blacklist the deputy chief of Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba.
The UN Security Council’s 1267 ISIL (Da’esh) and Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee added 68-year-old Makki to its list of designated terrorists on Monday, subjecting him to an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, after years of efforts by India and its allies.
Makki’s listing comes seven months after China, a close ally of Pakistan, had put a hold on June 16, 2022 on a joint proposal by India and the US to designate the head of the political affairs wing of JuD/LeT and the brother-in-law of LeT chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.
Responding to a question on why China decided to lift its technical hold on blacklisting Makki as a global terrorist, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin defended the move, saying that listing of terrorists is conducive to enhancing global counterterrorism cooperation and praised Islamabad for backing counter-terrorism efforts.
“Terrorism is the common enemy of humanity,” Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing.
“The 1267 Committee (of the UN Security Council) is an important international counterterrorism mechanism” and listing of terrorists or terror organisations under the aegis of the UN is conducive to enhancing international counterterrorism cooperation in response to terrorist threats, he said.
India on Tuesday welcomed the UN Security Council decision to declare Makki as a global terrorist and said threats from terrorism in the region remain high and sanctions by the UNSC are an effective tool to curb such threats.
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi also said India will continue to press the international community to take credible, verifiable and irreversible action against terrorism.
Makki has occupied various leadership roles in LeT, including raising funds for the organisation, he said in New Delhi.
“Threats from terrorist organisations in the region remain high and listings and sanctions by the UNSC, are an effective tool to curb such threats and dismantle terror infrastructure in the region,” Bagchi said.
Decisions to list individuals and entities under the 1267 Sanctions Committee are made through consensus.
Of the 15 Security Council members that make up the Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee, veto-wielding permanent member China was the sole hold-out during the process to list Makki.
As per the Committee’s guidelines, a Member may request more time to consider a proposal by placing a hold on the decision. For the duration of the validity of any hold placed on a matter, the decision on that matter will be considered “pending”.
The Committee Member that has placed the hold is required to provide updates after three months on its progress in resolving the pending matter.
If the hold placed on a proposal is lifted, the UN Secretariat is bound to immediately update the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaeda Sanctions List and inform the Member States concerned about the Committee’s decision.(PTI)
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