China has put a hold on a proposal by India and the US to designate Abdul Rauf Azhar, the brother of Jaish-e Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and a senior leader of the Pakistan-based terror organisation, as a “global terrorist” in the United Nations.

Sources said China put a hold on the proposal by India and the US to designate Azhar as a global terrorist and subject him to assets freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo.

“China should reflect on its response that signals double standards on combating terrorism. Protecting well-known terrorists from sanctioning in this manner will only undermine its credibility and risk exposing even itself more to the growing threat of terrorism,” said a government source.

This is not the first time that China has placed hurdles for the listing of known terrorists. In June this year, China had put a hold on a joint proposal by India and the US to list another Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under the 1267 Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.

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In the past, it had repeatedly blocked proposals to designate Masood Azhar, the chief of Pakistan-based and UN-proscribed terrorist entity JeM.