China stops India from heading Al-Qaeda sanctions committee that would have given it immense leverage over Pakistan

With textbook accuracy, Xi Jinping led ‘paper dragon’ China has once again started playing games at the top UN body by blocking India’s chairmanship in crucial committees. China on Tuesday prevented India from heading the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) 1267 (ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaeda) sanctions committee that lists international terrorists.

It is being reported that China was the only UNSC member to oppose India’s chairing of the sanctions committee for Al-Qaeda and affiliates. Reported by TFI, last week it was announced that India was going to chair the Taliban sanctions committee, Counterterrorism committee (for 2022), and the Libya sanctions committee, after becoming the non-permanent member of the UNSC for a two-year tenure. 

Read more: At UNSC, India will chair three top committees and it is bad news for Taliban, Pakistan and Turkey

Al-Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee was split in 2011, creating the new Taliban Sanctions Committee to separately deal with the Taliban. Chairing the Taliban Sanctions Committee at such a crucial stage, when peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban are ongoing, would have effectively demonstrated New Delhi’s leadership role in the region.

Furthermore, India could have ensured that terrorist organisations like Al-Qaeda and their sponsors in Afghanistan were not allowed to derail the peace process.

The subsidiary committee in the past has sanctioned international terrorists like Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-RehmanLakhvi, and also terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). With China and Pakistan being thick as thieves, it was only imperative that the former would try to shield the Al-Qaeda terrorists from Pakistan.

The committee also conducts “periodic and specialised” reviews of the entries on the sanctions list and reports annually to the Security Council on the implementation of the sanctions measures. Pakistan had earlier, with help from China, sought the listing of 4 Indians for alleged terrorist activities by the same committee.

Needless to say, India becoming chairperson of such committees came as bad news for the Taliban, Pakistan, and Turkey. However, with China using its unmitigated powers at the top UN body, the Taliban has been given a breathing space.

The countries which have headed the Taliban sanctions committee since 2011, when the original Al-Qaeda and Taliban committee was split into two, have all also chaired the Al-Qaeda sanctions committee simultaneously. These include Indonesia, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Australia, and Germany.

This is not the first time that Jinping and his Politburo have tried to undermine India and its authority at the UN. In the aftermath of India abrogating special status for the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, China at the behest of Pakistan tried to rake the issue at the body. Ultimately the attempt was thwarted, given most members saw it as India’s internal matter and the issue was never put on UNSC records.

There’s a reason why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has openly called the global body to make urgent reforms within its hierarchy. China uses its power of being a permanent member to solely antagonise India. 

Read more: ‘UN needs to reform to stay relevant,’ PM Modi calls for a rebirth of UN amid Chinese threat

Even by China’s standards, stopping a country to lead a Terrorism committee like Al-Qaeda that can help bring about peace in the turbulent region, is a new low but by now it does not come as a surprise to anyone. New Delhi understands that Beijing can stoop to any level to protect Pakistan and in turn, the terrorists, and thus it will be shifting its attention towards the Counterterrorism committee which it will chair in 2022.