India scpetical about Masood Azhar's health reports

India on Tuesday questioned the credibility of Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's statement that Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar was “unwell”.

Sources in New Delhi said that the Pakistan foreign minister's statement should be “taken with a pinch of salt”. They also said that New Delhi would continue its effort to bring Azhar under United Nations' sanctions.

New Delhi pointed out that Qureshi's statement on Azhar not only proved that the Islamabad government was not only aware of the JeM chief's presence in Pakistan but also made it clear that he had been in regular contact with the authorities in the neighbouring country.

India renewed its effort to bring Azhar under United Nations' sanctions after the JeM claimed the responsibility for the February 14 suicide bombing on the CRPF personnel at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.

Three of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — US, France and the UK — last week made a fresh move to bring the JeM chief under sanctions.

Azhar, 51, is known to be based at Bahawalpur in Pakistan.

A section of media also reported over the past few days that he has been suffering from kidney ailments and has been on dialysis.

China — one of the UNSC permanent members — in the past blocked all moves to bring Azhar and other terrorist leaders based in Pakistan under sanctions.

Sources in New Delhi said that India had been in touch with all the permanent and non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and explaining to them it was high time the anomaly of having the JeM under global sanctions, but not its chief was corrected.