China protects four key 26/11 perpetrators from UN sanctions

by Argus News

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

China continues to defy the other members of the Security Council and the overwhelming anti-terrorism sentiments by protecting from UN sanctions four key leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that carried out the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

United Nations, Nov 26: China continues to defy the other members of the Security Council and the overwhelming anti-terrorism sentiments by protecting from UN sanctions four key leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) that carried out the 26/11 Mumbai attack.

Fourteen years after the attack that killed at least 166 people, Beijing works with Islamabad to undermine anti-terrorism measures against Pakistan-based terrorists behind the carnage.

The four from LeT who got China's umbrella this year were the group's commander Sajid Mir, who orchestrated the 26/11 attack; deputy chief Abdur Rehman Makki; deputy chief of the LeT front Falah-I-Insaniyat Foundation Shahid Mahmood, and LeT commander Hafiz Talha Saeed, who is LeT chief Hafiz Muhammed Saeed's son.

China also put a hold on sanctions on the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group's deputy leader Abdul Rauf.

China had initially allowed eight LeT leaders to be sanctioned, four in the month after the 26/11 attack, and four later, before taking a hardline in support of other LeT leaders in a show of solidarity with Pakistan.

"Our efforts to sanction the perpetrators and facilitators of these terror attacks were blocked in the past for political reasons," India's Permanent Representative Ruchira Kamboj said last week at the Security Council.

"These actors continue to walk free and have been organising further cross-border attacks against my country," she said.

US Permanent Mission's Political Coordinator John Kelley at the same meeting regretted that only one entity was added to the sanctions list this year and said, "The important work of this committee must remain free from politicisation that only benefits the terrorists."

The committee paralysed by China's intransigence was only able to add Khatiba al-Tawhid wal-Jihad, a terror group operating in Syria to the sanctions list this year, while the LeT leaders and another Pakistan-based terrorist have been spared.

The Security Council's panel, known as the 1267 Sanctions Committee for the resolution setting it up, places individuals and groups under sanctions that include travel bans and financial restrictions for terrorist activities involving the al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and affiliated organisations like the LeT.

The committee includes all the 15 members of the Security Council and gives every one of them the right to place a hold on sanctions, which amounts to a veto.

When the Security Council's Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) met in Mumbai last month, an audio clip of Mir directing the 26/11 terrorists at the Jewish centre was played to focus on the role of the terrorist under Beijing protection at the UN.

At the CTC's special session in the terrorists' killing field, the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said, "The key conspirators and planners of the 26/11 attacks continue to remain protected and unpunished."

This, he said, "undermines our collective credibility and our collective interests" and until "the masterminds and perpetrators of this attack" are brought "to justice, this task remains unfinished".

In a video message to the meeting, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, "That is what the US has been working to do, together with India and other partners for the last 14 years because when we allow the architects of these attacks to go unpunished, we send a message to terrorists everywhere that their heinous crimes will be tolerated."

In the first flush of global fury against the horror of the 26/11 attack, China in December 2008 did not stand in the way of sanctioning LeT boss Saeed, operations head Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, finance chief Haji Muhammad Ashraf and financier Mahmoud Mohammad Ahmed Bahaziq.

Later, four others from the LeT were added to the list: Muhammad Arif Qasmani and Mohammad Yahya Aziz in 2009, and Hafiz Abdul Salam Bhattvi and Malik Zafar Iqbal Shahbaz in 2012.

(IANS)

Read More Health and Wellness News

Benralizumab is a biologic therapy that reduces the number of inflammatory cells called eosinophil. This is produced in abnormal numbers in the airway of patients with severe asthma and is critically involved in the development of asthma attacks.

(IANS)

COP28: Industry Transition Challenges Continue, Says India

by Pabitra Mohan Senapaty

Dubai, Dec 10: Union Minister for Environment Bhupender Yadav on Sunday that there has been a significant shift in the global industrial landscape as industry transition has climbed higher on the international agenda since the launch of LeadIT in 2019.

However, he underlined the real transition challenges of technology transfer and finance are yet to be addressed.

Speaking at a side event on Partnerships for a Just and Equitable Industry Transition at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in Dubai, the minister said that this challenge can be addressed by collaborative international mechanisms that need to ensure that barriers such as intellectual property rights are addressed to facilitate technology transfer from developed to developing countries.

He said the Leadership Group for Industry Transition (LeadIT) 2.0 would focus on supporting low-carbon transitions on the ground through a structured framework and three pillars: a global forum for dialogue; technology transfer and co-development; and an industry transitions’ platform.

“Through these pillars, the members will continue to support, engage in and promote industry transitions,” he said.

Speaking of the collaboration with Sweden, Yadav said the India-Sweden joint declaration on industry transition platform is not merely a partnership between two nations but an alliance for a sustainable future.

“It is a testament to our collective resolve to address the climate crisis and shape a world where industries thrive harmoniously with the environment,” he said.

The minister also drew the attention of the audience to the objectives of India-Sweden industry transition platform that includes strengthening institutional framework; unlocking conditions for technology demonstration projects; fostering innovation, research and development, and capacity building and mobilisation of finance and investments.

Yadav invited the stakeholders to work together to harness the power of innovation, collaboration, and technology to shape an industry of the future -- an industry that is sustainable, resilient, and inclusive, driving prosperity for generations to come.

Romina Pourmokhtari, Minister for Climate and Environment of Sweden, said decarbonisation and green transition hold immense possibilities for regional development, new jobs, investments in new technologies and improved competitiveness.

While admitting that industrial development is vital for social and economic prosperity of all countries, she cautioned that lack of commercially viable low carbon tech and long-investment cycles in industrial sectors risk locking in carbon emissions for decades.

China protects four key 26/11 perpetrators from UN sanctions

Download Mobile App