Masood Azhar's Terror Tag: In applause for PM, BJP's 'invisible surgical strike' jab at Opposition

The United Nations ‘terror tag’ for Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar is a huge victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and every single citizen of India, said the BJP in New Delhi on Thursday. Day after landmark decision, the ruling party held a press conference, which was addressed by Union Ministers Arun Jaitley and Nirmala Sitharaman. “After untiring efforts taken by PM Modi in isolating Pakistan and underlying the need to declare globally recognized but unannounced till last evening the terror mastermind Masood Azhar as a terrorist,” Sitharaman said. “It’s necessary to clearly point out the need to recognise Pakistan as land where over 35 terror organisations have been operating. Masood’s was one of them. PM Modi’s hard work has borne fruit with the decision,” she added.

Jaitley told reporters that the current dispensation succeeded in an attempt the country has been making for the last 10 years, "but then they (Opposition) says 'this is trivial, what is big in it'." Addressing a press conference at the party office, he said there was a tradition in the country to speak in one voice on issues such as external affairs and national security but there has been a departure from it in the last few years.

Jaitley also took a sharp wipe at Opposition for the ‘invisible surgical strikes.’ Though he didn’t take the name, it is more than obvious that the jab was directed at the Congress. On various occasions, the Grand Old Party of India has spoken about steps taken against terrorism. In an interview to the HT, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said that, "Multiple surgical strikes took place during our tenure, too. For us, military operations were meant for strategic deterrence and giving a befitting reply to anti-India forces than to be used for vote garnering exercises. In the past 70 years, a government in power never had to hide behind the valour of our armed forces. Such attempts to politicize our forces are shameful and unacceptable.” 

The US, France along with the UK had moved the proposal to designate Azhar as a "global terrorist" in the UN Security Council's 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee in February, just days after the deadly Pulwama terror attack. A veto-wielding permanent member of the UNSC, China was the sole hold-out in the 15-nation body on the bid to blacklist Azhar, blocking attempts by placing a "technical hold" and asking for "more time to examine" the proposal.