Beijing: China on Thursday accused the US of undermining the authority of the UN anti-terrorism committee by "forcefully moving" a resolution in the United Nations Security Council to list Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, saying America's move only "complicates" the issue.
The US, supported by France and the UK, has moved a draft resolution in the UN Security Council to blacklist the Pakistan-based terror group's chief, two weeks after China put a hold on a proposal to list Azhar under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council.
Asked about the development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a media briefing that Washington move only complicates the issue.
"This is not in line with resolution of the issue through dialogue and negotiations. This has reduced the authority of the Committee as a main anti-terrorism body of the UNSC and this is not conducive to the solidarity and only complicates the issue.
"We urge the US to act cautiously and avoid forcefully moving forward this resolution draft," Geng said.
The United States circulated a resolution - drafted with British and French support - to the 15-member council that would designate JeM leader Masood Azhar, subjecting him to an arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze, diplomats said.
JeM said it was responsible for a February 14 attack that killed at least 40 Indian paramilitary police, making it the deadliest in Kashmir during a 30-year-long insurgency, increased tensions between Pakistan and India. The nuclear-armed neighbours both said they had shot down each other's fighter jets last month.
The United States, Britain and France initially asked the Security Council's Islamic State and al Qaeda sanctions committee, which operates by consensus, to blacklist Azhar. However, China prevented the move.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that China had conducted a "comprehensive and thorough evaluation" but still needed more time to consider the proposal. China had previously prevented the committee from sanctioning Azhar in 2016 and 2017.
