What did you compromise with China?: Owaisi asks govt over UN action against Masood Azhar

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday questioned the soundness of the designation of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist and disapproved the Narendra Modi government’s claim of terming the UN action against the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief as a “big success”.

Owaisi further attacked the government, asking what it had compromised with China that it uplifted the technical hold on the proposal to ban Azhar.

“What did you (government) compromise with China? Hafiz Saeed was blacklisted in 2008, doesn’t he hold public meetings? Didn’t his party contest elections? Surely Masood Azhar has been blacklisted but if you are claiming it as a big success, it’s not,” said Owaisi.

Hailing UN’s decision to declare Azhar as a global terrorist, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Wednesday called it a big success for India’s efforts to root out terrorism and proved that the country's voice can no longer be ignored on the global stage.

"It is a matter of satisfaction that a consensus has developed in the world on designating Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. Der aye, durust aye (Better late than never)," PM Modi said.

"It is a big success for India's efforts since long to root out terrorism," he said.

India's voice is being heard globally and its views can no longer be ignored. This has been proved today, the PM said.

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that the Pulwama terror attack played a role in designation of Azhar as a global terrorist. It further asserted that Pakistan was making claims over the listing to divert attention from the "huge diplomatic" setback it has suffered.

The assertion came after Pakistan claimed that it agreed to Azhar's listing after all "political references", including attempts to link him to the Pulwama attack, were removed from the proposal to designate him a global terrorist.

"The designation is not based on the basis of a specific incident, but on the basis of evidence which we have shared with members of the UN's 1267 Sanctions Committee, linking Azhar to several acts of terrorism," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperon Raveesh Kumar said at a media briefing.