Inaction against Azhar, Lakhvi weakens fight against terror, says Sushma

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Sunday that she had categorically conveyed India's concerns to China that ambiguity on the likes of Maulana Masood Azhar and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi were creating obstructions in global fight against terrorism.

She said China has been categorically told about India's stand on the issue even as she claimed overwhelming support to India's position on terror menace even from the Gulf region.

"Let us not say good terrorists or bad terrorists; or my terrorists and your terrorists. A terrorist does not act against any one country, he acts against humanity," Sushma Swaraj told a press conference here.

She said the issue has been flagged off by India in the trilateral talks between Russia, India and China (RIC) and China has been conveyed New Delhi's stand separately.

"I had raised the issue with China and told them publicly also that sitting in the UN 1267 committee on Azhar and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi (Lashkar-e-Taiba) is an obstruction in global fight against terrorism," she said.

In April this year in Moscow, Sushma Swaraj had also raised the issue of China blocking India's bid to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Azhar as a terrorist at the UN with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at a bilateral meeting.

Sushma Swaraj claimed there has been overwhelming global endorsement to India's firm stand on terrorism and even Gulf countries have shared New Delhi's vision on the global menace.

"Those Gulf countries who had never defined any individual in the past are now ready to do so. This is a big support to our stand and everyone seems to agree that there should not be any attempt to distinguish between bad terrorists and good terrorists," she said.

--IANS

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