Is China’s decision to block the UN sanctions committee from designating Jaish-e-Mohammed’s Masood Azhar as a terrorist really such a big deal? It is not as though New Delhi did not see it coming. Since the January 2016 Pathankot attack, China has blocked the committee from designating Azhar on three occasions. If a personal word from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Chinese President Xi Jinping did not work it is because Beijing is seldom embarrassed on the world stage and always puts its self-interest first. China has invested heavily in construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which links the ports of Gwadar and Karachi to the north-west region of Xinjiang. It will not do anything to jeopardise this project and wouldn’t mind a little embarrassment to protect the 11 billion dollar investment. The designation of Azhar must be seen in the context of the complex relationship China has with Pakistan. Secondly, would the designation really change what happens on the ground? Not really. The JeM and Lashkar-e-Toiba were designated in 2001 but the LeT struck India in 2005 and 2008. Having failed thrice, New Delhi must give up on the UN panel and engage China in a more meaningful way.
