In a major development, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan – Shah Mahmood Qureshi has admitted that Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Chief – Masood Azhar is in Pakistan.
The development comes at a time when international pressure is mounting on Pakistan for curbing terror groups operating form Pakistan. Qureshi was speaking to the news channel, CNN on the recent tensions between India and Pakistan.
He told the news channel, “According to my information, he is very unwell. He is unwell to the extent that he can’t leave his house, because he’s really unwell.”
For the records, JeM has carried out numerous terror activities in India over the past 2 decades. Recently, JeM claimed the responsibility for the heinous terror attack in Pulwama Region, which killed more than 40 Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF) personnel in India.
Qureshi also said that Pakistan is ready to take action against Azhar if there is sufficient evidence that can “stand in a court of law”.
He told CNN, “If they (India) have solid, inalienable evidence that is acceptable to courts of Pakistan, share it with us so that we can convince the people and we can convince the independent judiciary of Pakistan.
It is to be noted that on Wednesday, India has submitted a dossier to Pakistan which has all the details confirming involvement of Masood Azhar in Pulwama attack.
U.S., U.K. and France move UNSC to ban Masood Azhar
The United States (U.S.), United Kingdom (U.K.) and France, the 3-permanent veto-wielding members of the 15 nation United Nations Security Council (UNSC), have moved a fresh proposal in UNSC to declare Masood Azhar as a ‘global terrorist’.
If applied, this would mean that Masood Azhar will have a global travel ban, assets frozen and arms embargo.
The Security Council Sanctions Committee will have 10 working days to act upon the proposal. This is the fourth such request in the last 10 years. All the requests were vetoed by China, who is a close ally of Pakistan.
Speaking on the move, China’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson – Lu Kang said, “China will continue to take a responsible attitude and participate in the discussions of the Security Council’s relevant sanctions committees and other subsidiary bodies.”
The present war like situation may be wholly attributed to attempts by Masood Azhar and his outfit JeM – aimed at bleeding India. However, given the close cooperation between JeM chief and ISI, its highly unlikely that he would ever be handed over to New Delhi.
