India asks China to review stand on JeM chief

 India on Monday asked China to review its decision to block the proposal to impose United Nations’ sanctions on Pakistan-based terrorist leader Masood Azhar.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj met her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow and reminded him that China too was a victim of terrorism and should join India in the fight against the menace.

“I met the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and, in that meeting, I said to him that if we wanted to fulfil our commitment to fight terrorism together, then they must rethink the position they have taken in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) 1267 committee,” Swaraj told journalists in Moscow.

The External Affairs Minister attended a trilateral meeting with foreign ministers of Russia and China in Moscow. She also had a separate bilateral meetings with Wang and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. 

Her statement was released to media-persons in New Delhi. Swaraj said India, Russia and China (RIC) – all being victims of terrorism – should unite to lead the world in the fight against the menace. “To do this, it is important that we give up the distinction between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ terrorists. We will also need to give up the tendency to differentiate between ‘my terrorists’ and ‘your terrorists’,” External Affairs Minister said.

“If we continue to adopt double standards in dealing with terrorism it will have serious consequences not just for our own countries, but the international community as a whole,” she said in her opening remarks at the RIC meet. She also argued for joint action by Russia, India and China at the United Nations to strengthen the fight against terrorism.