UNSC Rejects to Designate Indians as Terrorists

• 03 Sep 2020

Why in News

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has rejected all Pakistan’s requests to list four Indians as designated terrorists under its 1267 Committee for Counterterrorism Sanctions.

• The USA, UK, France, Germany and Belgium blocked Pakistan's requests due to lack of evidence.
• While the USA, UK and France are permanent members of the UNSC, Germany and Belgium are non-permanent members.

UNSC Resolution 1267 Sanctions Committee

• This committee oversees the implementation of sanctions pursuant to UNSC resolutions 1267 (1999) 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015).
• It was adopted unanimously on 15^th October 1999.
• It is one of the most important and active UN subsidiary bodies working on efforts to combat terrorism, particularly in relation to Al Qaeda, Taliban and the Islamic State group. It prepares a consolidated list of people associated with these organizations.
• It discusses UN efforts to limit the movement of terrorists, especially those related to travel bans, the freezing of assets and arms embargoes for terrorism.

Key Points

• In September 2019, Pakistan had alleged that four Indians working in Afghanistan, formed an Afghanistan-based “Indian terror syndicate” that was organising the banned terror groups Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Jamaat-Ul-Ahrar (JuA) to carry out attacks in Pakistan.
• Pakistan and China also moved the joint proposal to declare one of these four, as a sanctioned terrorist with links to TTP and JuA.
  
  • This proposal received a veto from the USA in UNSC.
• Pakistan later claimed it had made a statement at an Open Debate of the Security Council on the Report of the Secretary-General on the Threats to International Peace and Security posed by Terrorism Actions, accusing India of terrorism.
  
  • However, the UNSC President had refused to take cognisance of the statement, as Pakistan is not a member of the UNSC.
  • India formally protested against this calling this a false claim.
• In July 2020, Pakistan moved the 1267 Resolution Sanctions Committee to designate the four Indians as global terrorists.
• Reasons for Pakistan’s Actions :
  
  • The tension between India and Pakistan has escalated after the abrogation of special status to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 in August 2019, which was heavily objected by Pakistan.
    
    • Pakistan released a new political map that included all of Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Sir Creek and Junagadh on the completion of one year of abrogation of Article 370.
  • After repeated attempts (in 2009, 2016 and 2017) to list Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad chief as “global terrorist”, India finally succeeded in getting him listed in 2019. This move was not received well by Pakistan as it tainted its international image as a terrorism-supporter.
  • Pakistan also received another extension on the greylist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) until October 2020.
  • It also faced setbacks on other fronts like the United States slamming its record on terrorism, including its failure to act against groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
  • Pakistan also opposed India’s leadership in dealing with the Covid-19 crisis in the SAARC region which was criticized by India.
  • Pakistan’s requests to get Indians listed in the 1267 sanctions are also being seen as attempts to target India ahead of January 2021, when India will join as a non-permanent member for a two year term at the UNSC.

Way Forward

• While India’s role in combating terrorism has been internationally acclaimed, Pakistan is constantly facing rebuke on not doing enough to deal with terrorism on its soil. Rejection of Pakistan’s attempts to list Indians as terrorists will only taint Pakistan’s image in the global community.
• In light of recent conflict between India and China and closeness of China with Pakistan, India needs to be concerned for its security. International support is crucial for India amidst rising tension with its neighbourhood.
• The recent ceasefire violations by Pakistan are just another proof of lack of seriousness on its behalf in engaging peacefully with India. Although, India must not give up on establishing better diplomatic ties with Pakistan, until Pakistan takes a strong step towards elimination of state-backed terrorism, the likelihood of peace between India and Pakistan will remain low.

Source: IE