France to impose financial sanctions on Masood Azhar

In a significant development, France, which had made a fresh bid at the UN to get Masood Azhar banned, has decided to impose financial sanctions on the JeM chief, asserting that it has always been by India's side in the fight against terrorism.

France along with the US and the UK had moved a proposal in the UN Security Council to designate the Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed chief as a "global terrorist".

However, the bid was blocked by China which put a technical hold on the proposal.

"A deadly attack took place in Pulwama on February 14, 2019, claiming over 40 victims from the Indian police forces. The Jaish-e-Mohammed, which the United Nations has deemed to be a terrorist organisation since 2001, has claimed responsibility for this attack," said a joint statement by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, the French Ministry of Economy and Finance, and the French Ministry of the Interior.

"France has always been and always will be by India's side in the fight against terrorism," it said.