On Wednesday, five permanent and non-permanent members of the UN Security Council – the US, UK, France, Germany and Belgium – blocked an attempt by Pakistan to include two Indians under one UN Security Council regime against international terrorism. Late in the afternoon Indian time, TS Tirumurti, Permanent Representative of India to the UN in New York, posted on Twitter:
“Pakistan’s blatant attempt to politicize the 1267 special procedure on terrorism by giving it a religious color has been thwarted by the United Nations Security Council. We thank all Council members who blocked Pakistani projects. “
TS Tirumurti, Permanent Representative of India to the UN in New York
How did the issue come up before the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Subcommittee?
Pakistan has been trying for a year to sanction four Indians, who worked in Afghanistan, under the UN regime of 1267. It submitted separate proposals against them between September and November 2019, an extremely bad year for relations between the United Nations.
- India and Pakistan on three main issues; the terrorist attack in Pulwama, the air strikes in Balakot and their consequences; the appointment, finally, of the leader of Jaish-e-Muhammad Masood Azhar; and India’s decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and divide the former state into two Union Territories.
- Wednesday was the third time this year that Pakistan’s efforts were thwarted.
- On June 24, the United States opposed a proposal by Pakistan to include one of the four Indians in 1267.
- Pakistan’s foreign ministry said it was “disappointed” and hoped its request to include the other three Indians was “duly considered” in an “objective and transparent” manner. And on July 16, there was a second bloc on a Pakistani proposal to include another Indian.
But why did Pakistan want the UN to sanction these indigenous peoples?
The 1267 Committee was first established in 1999 and strengthened by a series of resolutions in the months and years following the September 11, 2001 attacks.
- It is now known as the Daesh and Al -Qaida Sanctions Committee. Islamabad has accused India for years of fomenting terrorism in Pakistan via Afghanistan, a charge India rejects.
- Pakistan attempted to make its views known to the international community after capturing retired Indian naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav in March 2016 and, a year later, sentenced him to death for “espionage and terrorism”.
- India, however, won a legal and diplomatic victory at the International Court of Justice in July 2019.
- The list of 1,267 terrorists is a global list, with a UNSC seal. It is full of Pakistani citizens and residents, and Pakistan would like to include Indians as well.
Who are the four Indians whom Pakistan addressed?
On September 2, Pakistan attempted to get onto the sanctions list for Appaji Angara and Gobinda Patnaik Duggivasala.
- Duggivalasa worked for a computer consulting company in Kabul. He left Afghanistan in November 2019, just before Pakistan submitted its proposal to include him on the list.
- Pakistan denounced Duggivalasa’s involvement in the July 2018 bombing at a campaign rally in Mastung, Balochistan, in which 148 people were killed, including pro-Pakistan Baluchistan Awami party candidate Siraj Raisani . It was the biggest attack in Balochistan in several years and was claimed by the Islamic State. Mastung, about 20 km from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, is a hub of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which announced its affiliation with the Islamic State in 2017.
- Appaji Angara is a software engineer who also worked in Kabul. He returned to India in October 2019, a month before Pakistan submitted a nomination proposal.
- Pakistan has accused Angara of being involved in the 2014 army public school massacre in Peshawar, in which 150 students were killed. The attack was attributed to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Pakistan has attempted to bind the Pakistani Taliban to India since their establishment in 2007.
- Pakistan has also alleged Angara’s involvement in a 2016 attack on a Christian settlement in Warsak, Peshawar, which was claimed by Jamat-ul-Ahrar, a TTP splinter group.
- Venumadhav Dongara’s nomination attempt was blocked by the United States in June. He is an engineer working in Afghanistan for KEC International Limited, an RPG group infrastructure company based in Mumbai.
- An FIR was filed against him in Peshawar in March 2019 for allegedly supplying explosives
- The attempt to appoint Venumadhav Dongara was blocked by the United States in June. He is an engineer who worked in Afghanistan for KEC International Limited, an infrastructure company of the RPG group based in Bombay.
- An FIR was filed against him in Peshawar in March 2019 for allegedly supplying explosives, weapons and ammunition for the 2015 attack on the Badaber Air Base of the Pakistan Air Force.
- Twenty-nine members of the security forces were killed in the attack, which began in the early hours of September 18, 2015. The Pakistani military had hinted at India’s involvement and said the attack had been planned in Afghanistan.
- “The attackers were from Afghanistan and all the foul play was planned in the neighboring country. This attack was also carried out through direct coordination from Afghanistan, ”said the military spokesman, Major General Asim Bajwa.
- A faction of the TTP claimed responsibility for the attack, which took place during the Pakistani army’s Operation Zarb-e-Azb against the group.
- Dongara left Afghanistan in September 2019, apparently “uprooted” by Indian agencies who feared he would be kidnapped and handed over to Pakistanis.
- Ajoy Mistry is the 4th Indian on Pakistan’s wish list. He worked as a cook at a US Army base in Afghanistan since 2012, after stints in Iraq and the United Arab Emirates.
- Pakistan accuses him of having ties to ISIS. He also returned to India in October 2019. The proposal to include him on the list was blocked on July 16.
What is the process by which people are listed in UNSC 1267?
- Any Member State can submit an application for a person, group or entity.
- The 1267 Committee, which includes all permanent and non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, meets as needed four days in advance.
- Decisions to include and exclude lists are made by consensus. Any nomination must meet defined criteria.
- The proposal must include acts or activities that indicate that the person / group / entity proposed has participated “in the financing, planning, facilitation, preparation or commission of acts or activities” related to “ISIL (Daesh), Al-Qaida or any other cell, subsidiary, dissident group or derivative thereof ”.
- According to the Committee’s guidelines, “the detailed account of the cases in support of the proposed listing” should provide “as much detail as possible on the basis (s) or justification for the listing”, including specific conclusions. and supporting evidence.
- The proposal is sent to all members and if no member objects within five business days, the proposal is adopted. An “objection” means curtains to the proposal.
- Any member of the Committee can also put a “technical stay” on the proposal and request additional information from the proposing Member State. During this time, other members can also set up their own warehouses.
- The matter remains on the Committee’s “pending” list until the Member State that placed the suspension decides to turn its decision into an “objection”, or until all those who placed the suspensions do so. withdraw within a period set by the Committee.
- Pending issues must be resolved within six months, but the suspending Member State may request an additional three months. At the end of this period, if no objections are raised, the matter is considered approved.
- Venumadhav Dongara’s proposed list was suspended last year, something the United States opposed this year, effectively blocking the proposal.
- The Ajoy Mistry proposal was also put on hold, which was blocked in July due to objections from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Belgium. Those same countries also technically suspended Duggivasala and Appaji’s proposed list and blocked it on Wednesday.
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