UNITED NATIONS - China has again placed a technical hold on a United States bid at the UN to designate as a terrorist the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief, Masood Azhar, who New Delhi claims was the mastermind behind the attack on Pathankot airbase.

The move to blacklist Masood Azhar, obviously at the behest of India, was made in the United Nations ISIS/Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee - one of the two Security Council Committees to deal with counter-terrorism.

The proposal came barely weeks after India’s attempt to get Masood Azhar banned but the committee could not develop consensus and rejected it in December last. On February 2 - the latest bid - also failed as the context to list Masood Azhar had not changed during this short period.

A press release issued in December 2016 by the Foreign Office in Islamabad had stated that the Indian proposal had no merit and was primarily aimed at advancing its narrow agenda.

The committee’s dismissal of this proposal was also a rejection of the Indian attempts to politicise and undermine its work.

While claiming to denounce terrorism, it was pointed out that India has in fact deployed terrorism as an instrument of state policy, and has itself been involved in perpetrating, sponsoring, supporting and financing terrorism.

Pakistan has been a direct victim of this State sponsored terrorism by India, it was stated.

The arrest of Kulbhushan Jadhav, a RAW agent and serving officer of Indian navy, and his confession about involvement in terrorist activities aimed at destabilising Pakistan and killing or maiming of Pakistani citizens, was a case in point.

On its part, Pakistan has made significant contributions and rendered enormous sacrifices for the success of the international community’s counter-terrorism efforts.