Heena Sharma Blog

China on Thursday sought to defend its fourth technical hold at the UN Security Council to block the designation of Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, saying it would help the parties concerned to engage in more talks to find a "lasting solution" acceptable to all. The proposal to designate Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council was moved by France, the UK and the US on February 27, days after a suicide bomber of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) killed 40 CRPF soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, leading to a flare-up in tensions between India and Pakistan. The Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee members had 10 working days to raise any objections to the proposal. Just before the deadline ended, China put a "technical hold" on the proposal seeking "more time to examine" it. The proposal was the fourth such bid at the UN in the last 10 years to list Azhar as a global terrorist. Asked

The government has convened an all-party meeting Tuesday evening where External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will brief the leaders of opposition parties on the pre-dawn air strike operation by the Indian Air Force against Jaish-e-Mohammed's (JeM) terror camps in Pakistan, sources said. They said the meeting has been convened at 5 PM at Jawahar Bhawan which houses the ministry of External Affairs. Leaders of various parties are expected to participate. In a swift and precise air strike following the Pulwama attack , India bombed and destroyed Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp in Pakistan early Tuesday, killing a "very large number" of terrorists, trainers and senior commanders, officials said. Giving details of the operation at a news conference here, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said credible intelligence was received that the JeM was planning to carry out other suicide attacks in India after the Pulwama bombing on a CRPF convoy 12 days ago th