Washington, Dec. 5: China, at the apparent request of Pakistan, put a “technical hold” on an Indian request to the UN Security Council to slap sanctions on three terrorists, says a state department cable of December 2009 signed off by the US secretary of state, Ms Hillary Clinton.
China, permanent member of the UN Security Council, has the veto power and nothing can be approved by the 15-member body of the United Nations without the consent of Beijing.
“On the international stage, Pakistan has sought to block the UNSCR 1267 listings of Pakistan-based or affiliated terrorists by requesting that China place holds on the nominations. China recently placed a technical hold on the designation of three Pakistan-based or affiliated terrorists nominated by India, although China did not prevent the most recent Pakistan-related US designation nomination in June,” says the secret cable.
Officials say that both India and the US have been regularly raising this issue with Chinese officials, and have been successful some of the times, but not always, officials point out.
This particular cable further confirms ISI’s continued links with terrorists outfits. “Pakistan’s intermittent support to terrorist groups and militant organisations threatens to undermine regional security and endanger US national security objectives in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” it says.
“Although Pakistani senior officials have publicly disavowed support for these groups, some officials from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate continue to maintain ties with a wide array of extremist organisations, in particular Taliban, LeT and other extremist organisations,” it says.
“These extremist organisations continue to find refuge in Pakistan and exploit Pakistan’s extensive network of charities, NGOs and madrasas. This network of social service institutions readily provides extremist organizations with recruits, funding and infrastructure for planning new attacks,” says the US cables.
In the talking points for meetings with Pakistani leadership, the state department asked its officials to take up with the Pakistani counterparts about their failure to implement the UNSC resolutions against terrorists outfits, in particular those against India and those involved in the Mumbai terrorist attacks.