No holds barred – India must continue to try to designate terrorists and not lose faith in the process

Source: The post is based on the article “No holds barred-India must continue to try to designate terrorists and not lose faith in the process” published in “The Hindu” on 13^th August 2022.

Syllabus: GS 3 – Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.

Relevance: India-China relations and Terror threats.

News: Recently, China has placed a “technical hold” on the joint India-U.S. proposal to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad deputy chief a global terrorist on the United Nations Security Council 1267 Committee listing.

What are the challenges happenings in India-China relations?

Despite 16 rounds of military commander talks at the Line of Actual Control, India and China have failed to resolve the standoff along the LAC that began in April 2020.

Chinese satellite tracking ship was supposed to dock at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port after the Sri Lankan government gave a clearance to the visit.

Chinese technology majors in India are being raided by the Enforcement Directorate and Income Tax authorities under suspicion of a range of financial crimes.

Consequences of Chinese technical hold move

At a time when bilateral trust is already in deficit, China’s decision to stop an important terror listing would give a big blow to the bilateral relations between two countries.

The terror outfits, the LeT and JeM, may continue to perpetrate major attacks on Indians.

What India should do?

India continue its attempts to designate these terrorists, with perseverance, without losing faith in the process. It can take the following options to resolve the problem:

(1) India should go for keeping the international pressure up, and garner more co-sponsors for the listing.

(2) India should work on changing 1267 Committee procedures, so that they don’t allow one country to hold back such important terror listings without due cause.

(3) India can open dialogues with both China and Pakistan bilaterally on the issue. Here, Pakistan’s need to be removed from the FATF grey list and China’s interest in Pakistan’s economic recovery may be leveraged to ensure the listings are accomplished.