China on Friday said that it is willing to have more discussions with all parties concerned, including India, on blacklisting the head of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which claimed responsibility for an attack on an Indian paramilitary convoy in disputed Kashmir last month.
China on Wednesday prevented a UN Security Council committee from blacklisting JeM founder and leader Masood Azhar.
India said it was disappointed at the block, which sparked calls for boycotts of Chinese products on domestic social media, while the US said that it was counter to a goal it shared with China of achieving regional peace and stability.
In a statement faxed to Reuters late on Friday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterated that the “technical hold” on the blacklisting was to give more time for the committee to have further consultations and study on the issue.
China hopes the committee’s actions can “benefit reducing the tense situation and protect regional stability,” the ministry said, responding to a question from reporters on the boycott calls in India.
“China is willing to strengthen communication with all parties, including India, to appropriately handle this issue,” it added, without elaborating.
The US, UK and France had asked the Security Council’s Islamic State and al-Qaeda sanctions committee to subject Azhar to an arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze. The 15-member committee operates by consensus.
China had previously prevented the sanctions committee from sanctioning Azhar in 2016 and 2017.
The Feb. 14 attack, which killed at least 40 paramilitary police, was the deadliest in Kashmir’s 30-year-long insurgency, escalating tension between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, which said that they shot down each other’s fighter jets.
Western powers could also blacklist Azhar by adopting a Security Council resolution, which needs nine votes in favor and no vetoes by Russia, China, the US, UK or France.
JeM, blacklisted by the Security Council in 2001, is a primarily anti-India group that forged ties with al-Qaeda.
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