China once again blocks ban on JeM chief Masood Azhar; defies US, India

Azhar is the mastermind of the deadly terror attack at an Army base in India last year

In a setback to India, China will block the US resolution at the UN this week to declare Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar an international terrorist.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the 1267 Committee of the UN Security Council was yet to reach the consensus to ban Azhar, who is the mastermind of the deadly terror attack at an Army base in India last year.

"As for the listing application by the relevant country, there are disagreements. China put the technical hold so as to allow for more time to deliberate on this matter. To our regret, the Committee so far has yet to reach consensus," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

China has repeatedly scuppered India's effort to have Azhar declared an international terrorist.

After Beijing blocked and put a technical hold on India's application that lapsed last year, the US in January put a fresh proposal - backed by France and the UK - to designate Azhar an international terrorist.

Beijing again put a technical hold on the proposal till August and extended it for another three months. The technical hold expires on Thursday this week.