China blocks India’s bid to tag 26/11 plotter as terrorist
The US and India sought the listing of Mir under 1267 al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee so that he would be subjected to an assets freeze, travel ban, arms embargo.
China on Tuesday blocked a move at the UN Security Council by India and the US to designate Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operative Sajid Mir, wanted in connection with the 2008 Mumbai attacks, as a global terrorist, people familiar with the matter said.
The US and India had sought the listing of Mir under the 1267 al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee so that he would be subjected to an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo. The block by China follows its use of a “technical hold” to stymie a similar move by India and the US last year, the people cited above said.
Mir has already been designated a terrorist under the laws of India and the US. The US treasury department designated Mir as a specially designated global terrorist in 2012 and a reward of $5 million was offered for him under the US Rewards for Justice programme.
There was no official word on the development from Indian officials.
Last year, Western countries had backed India’s call at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for the investigation and prosecution of 30 key terrorist leaders, including LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and Mir, who allegedly directed a 10-member terrorist team involved in the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people.
Over the past few years, China has repeatedly blocked efforts by India and its partners, such as France and the US, to designate Pakistan-based terrorists. Among the terrorists whose listing has been held up by China are Mir, Shahid Mahmood and Talha Saeed of LeT and Abdul Rauf Asghar of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
India had made the listing of Pakistan-based terrorists a top priority for its tenure as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council during 2021-22.
In the face of intense pressure from Western countries at the FATF to act against Mir, Pakistani authorities informed Western interlocutors that the top LeT operative had been arrested and given an eight-year prison term in 2022. The development marked a turnaround from the Pakistani establishment’s earlier claim that Mir, alias Sajid Majid, had “died” sometime ago.
The new information on Mir emerged after Western countries mounted pressure on Pakistan to present proof of his alleged death.
According to the US Rewards for Justice programme, Mir has been a senior member of LeT since 2001. During 2006-11, Mir was in-charge of LeT’s external operations and planned and directed several terrorist attacks. Mir was LeT’s “operations manager” for the Mumbai attacks, “playing a leading role in their planning, preparation, and execution”.
