US, UK & France block Pak-China bid to label BLA as terrorist entity

In a significant development, the United States, the United Kingdom and France have put a technical hold on a joint move by Pakistan and China to list the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its suicide wing Majeed Brigade under the UN 1267 sanctions regime. As per media reports, the three Western powers cited lack of sufficient evidence linking the outfits with Al Qaeda and ISIL. The UN 1267 regime refers to UN Security Council Resolution 1267 of 1999, which imposes sanctions—including travel bans, asset freezes, and arms embargoes—on individuals or entities linked to Al-Qaida, the Taliban, and ISIL.

Only last month, Washington had designated the BLA and Majeed Brigade as foreign terrorist organisations in its national list. At that time, the move was viewed as a balancing act after the US labelled The Resistance Front, accused of carrying out the Pahalgam attack, as a Lashkar-e-Taiba-linked group. Encouraged by Washington's earlier designation, Pakistan quickly joined hands with China to push for the listing of the BLA and Majeed Brigade at the UN. The step would have given more weight to Pakistan's repeated allegations that the BLA has India's backing. But the latest US stand has turned into a setback for both Islamabad and Beijing.

It is to be noted here that the US has now used the same "technical hold" route that China has often employed to block Indo-US moves against Pakistan-based terror leaders. Several Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives including Sajid Mir, Shahid Mehmood and Talha Saeed are still not designated under the 1267 regime because of Chinese holds. Another case was Abdul Rauf Asghar, who was killed in Bahawalpur during Operation Sindoor. His designation too was delayed by China in 2023 despite joint efforts by India and the US. Pakistan currently sits in the 15-nation Security Council as a non-permanent member for the 2025-26 term, while China is a veto-wielding permanent member of the powerful UN body.

The BLA was recently in the news after it claimed responsibility for the March hijacking of the Jaffar Express train, killing 31 civilians and security personnel and holding hostage over 300 passengers. The Jaffar Express was hijacked while it was travelling from Quetta to Peshawar. Meanwhile, the Majeed Brigade is the suicide wing of the BLA and mostly targets security forces and Chinese interests in Pakistan.