India’s request to get Masood Azhar blacklisted by UN blocked by China

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China has blocked India’s request to add the head of militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) to a UN Security Council blacklist of groups linked to al Qaeda, New Delhi said on Friday.

India has accused JeM and its top leader, Maulana Masood Azhar, of masterminding several attacks, including a deadly assault on an Indian air base in January.

After Pakistani security officials interrogated Azhar and his associates after the attack, no evidence have been come across that links him to the attack.

JeM has already been blacklisted by the 15-nation Security Council, but not Azhar, a long-time foe of India.

India’s Foreign ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup said that India requested Azhar to be added to the list nine months ago and had received strong backing from all other members of the council.

China, which put a hold on the move in April, had now blocked it, he said.

“We had expected China would have been more understanding of the danger posed to all by terrorism,” he said in a statement.

Frustrated to get him blacklisted, Swarup said that the inability of the international community to take the step showed the “prevalence of double standards in the fight against terrorism.” China’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Friday evening.

India has been accusing Pakistan of using Jaish-e-Mohammad as a proxy to mount attacks on Indian soil, including in the disputed Kashmir region, and earlier gave what it called “actionable intelligence” to Islamabad.

Pakistan denies giving any aid to Kashmir-based militants.

If Azhar was blacklisted by the UN Security Council, he would face a global travel ban and asset freeze.