Held up by the Chinese – On UNSC Sanctions Committee Proposal

Source: The post is based on an article “Held up by the Chinese” published in The Hindu on 20^th October 2022.

Syllabus: GS 2 – International Relations

Relevance: China’s veto power in UNSC and its effect on India

News:  China recently placed a “hold” on a joint India-U.S. proposal to designate Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Shahid Mehmood under the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) 1267 list of terrorists affiliated to Al Qaeda and ISIS.

What is 1267 committee?

It was set up in 1999 (updated in 2011 and 2015). It maintains the list of terrorist group affiliated to Al Qaeda and ISIS.

It allows that any UN member state can propose the name that could be added to a consolidated list of terrorist group.

However, placing a hold by a member country prevents the name to be added to the list.

What does ‘’placing a hold’’ mean?

The rules of 1267 committee states that names of the terrorist can only be added as per no objection procedure, followed by the member nations of UNSC.

If any member of UNSC places a hold on the listing of the name then that name cannot be added to the consolidated list of terror groups.

Since China is a permanent member of UNSC, it has used its veto multiple times.

Further, if any country places a hold on the proposed name, then 1267 committee is bound to resolve such issued within six months. The holding country has to decide whether to accept the listing or place a permanent objection to it.

What are the reasons behind placing a hold by China?

One of the important reasons could be the close bilateral ties between Pakistan and China.

For example, China kept placing a hold on the UNSC terror listing proposals for Masood Azhar in 2009, 2010, 2016-18. It claimed it had inadequate information. However, China withdrew its hold in 2019.

Further, as per Chinese ambassador, China places a hold because it needs time to study these specific cases. He further said that placing a hold does not mean that China has changed its position on counter-terrorism cooperation efforts.

Moreover, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ruchira Khamboj had asked to end the practice of placing holds and blocks on listing requests.

What are other efforts are taken by India?

India has consistently tried to build international consensus on cross-border terrorism.

Its effort was seen when Pakistan was placed on grey list under the Financial Action Task Force due to its inability to curb terror financing and money laundering from 2012-2015 and 2018-2022.

Finally, India and the U.S. have built their own separate list of most wanted terrorists with a view to eventually receiving global cooperation on banning them.