India slams UN's Time Warp for dodging ban on Masood Azhar

India has accused the UN's  top decision-making body of being stuck in a "time warp and politics" as it argued its case for a ban on terrorist Masood Azhar, who heads the Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Though the UN Security Council has blacklisted the Jaish, it has not placed Azhar, 48, on a list of individuals and groups linked to the al Qaeda or Islamic State.Twice this year, China, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, has blocked India's move to ban Azhar, in what is seen as a big favour to Pakistan, its long-term ally.

India has accused the Jaish-E-Mohammed of two deadly terror attacks this year - on an air force base in Pathankot in January, and at an army camp in Uri in September. 26 military personnel were killed in the two strikes.

India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, yesterday slammed the Council's inability to sanction the leaders of terrorist organisations.

"While our



collective conscience is ravaged everyday by terrorists in some region or another, the Security Council gives itself 9 months to consider whether to sanction leaders of organisations it has itself designated as terrorist entities," he said.In April, China first placed a "technical hold" - effectively a veto - against Azhar's ban and then renewed it in September for another three months.

"The Security Council, stuck in its own time warp and politics, can only be described as working randomly on the basis of a mix of ad-hocism, scrambling and political paralysis," said the Indian envoy.

China has also indicated that this Friday, at a crucial meeting in Vienna, it will not change its stand blocking India from membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 48-nation bloc that controls trade in sophisticated nuclear technology and material. China's action against India is seen as another show of support for Pakistan, which is also seeking entry to the group.