China blocks US, India move to designate Makki as terrorist at UN

China has blocked a joint move by India and the US to list Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) leader Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist at the UN Security Council by placing a “technical hold” on the proposal. On June 1, 2022, India and the US jointly proposed to list Makki, the brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Taiba head and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed, under the UN Security Council’s Al-Qaeda (Dae’sh) and ISIL Sanctions Committee. Both India and the US had already listed Makki as a terrorist under their domestic laws. But on Thursday, China placed a “technical hold” on the proposal, effectively blocking the listing of the proposal till the hold is withdrawn, which can last for up to 6 months at a time.  

This is not the first time that China has placed hurdles for the listing of known terrorists. In the past, it had repeatedly blocked proposals to designate Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of Pakistan-based and UN-proscribed terrorist entity, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). China finally relented in Azhar’s case by lifting the technical hold on May 1, 2019, allowing the listing of the JeM chief by the 1267 committee for his terrorist activities and his links with al-Qaeda. Beijing caved in because of mounting international pressure and its own efforts at the time to improve ties with New Delhi in the wake of the 2017 border standoff at Doklam.

 Makki has a reward of $2 million on him placed by the US government. Moreover, both Washington and Delhi have listed him as a terrorist under domestic laws. Makki has been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalising youth to plan attacks in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir. While Makki has held leadership positions in LeT and JuD, LeT was involved in several brazen attacks in India, such as the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, the Red Fort Attack of December 2000, the Rampur CRPF Camp attack of January 2008, the Karan Nagar attack in Srinagar in February 2018, the Khanpora, Baramulla, attack in May 2018, and the Gurez-Bandipora attack in August 2018. The US treasury department designated Makki as a specially designated global terrorist on November 4, 2010.