A day after China reiterated its stance on vetoing India's bid to ban Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar, reports on Monday said India will be taking up the issue directly with China at the foreign minister and national security advisor level. India will raise the issue in the United Nations (U.N.) again depending on the meetings, the Economic Times reported.
India had sought a ban on Azhar, who is suspected of being the mastermind behind the Pathankot attacks this year, and 10 others in the U.N. by naming them as terrorists. China, which is on the Security Council, was the only member that had blocked India's bid at the United Nations to ban Azhar in March this year. India later took up the matter with China directly, which the latter had confirmed. However, China continued to back its stance on its refusal to categorise Azhar as a terrorist. India also criticised the system of secret veto in the al-Qaida, Taliban and ISIS sanctions committees.
"China is too deeply involved with Pakistan. However, for them the cost keeps rising with every veto. They cannot continue to ignore this issue which may spoil the potential in Sino-Indian ties. The cost of Beijing's action will be too high for them," an official told the Economic Times.
China and Pakistan have a signed a deal worth $46 billion to create the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which would reduce travel time of cargo between the two countries. The corridor would connect western China to the strategic Gwadar port in Pakistan. The deal would also take care of Pakistan's energy crisis by 2018, Gulf News reported. Meanwhile, Pakistan blames India for "destabilising" the corridor, Reuters reported.
While Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj would be meeting her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow during the ongoing Russia-India-China (RIC) meet, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will be travelling later this month to Beijing to hold dialogue with China.
"China's international reputation at U.N. as a responsible power keeps getting undermined with every veto. They can go on vetoing and it becomes not just India's issue but an issue that others worry about as they see China as not a responsible power. Terror is both a security concern for us and an evocative issue for many many others. So China cannot afford to remain outside the global mainstream. And India will continue pursuing its strategy," ET quoted officials as saying.
