New Delhi, Jan 17: India has welcomed the UN Security Council decision to declare Pakistan-based top Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist and said threats from terrorism in the region remain high and sanctions by the UNSC are an effective tool to curb such threats.
“India will continue to press the international community to take credible, verifiable and irreversible action against terrorism,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said.
“We welcome the decision of the UN Security Council’s ISIL and Al Qaida Sanctions Committee to list Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki, who is also the brother-in-law of LeT founder & another top terrorist Hafiz Saeed,” he said in response to questions.
Bagchi said Makki had occupied various important roles in LeT, including raising funds for the organisation.
“Threats from terrorist organisations in the region remain high and listings and sanctions by the UNSC are an effective tool to curb such threats and dismantle terror infrastructure in the region,” Bagchi said.
He said India remained committed to pursuing a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism and will continue to press the international community to take credible, verifiable and irreversible action against terrorism.
Makki was designated a global terrorist by the UN after China lifted its hold on a joint India-US proposal to blacklist the LeT’s deputy chief, subjecting him to an assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, after years of efforts by India and its allies.
China finally lifted its ‘technical hold’ on the designation of Makki as a global terrorist under the 1267 UN Sanctions Committee after the country was left isolated in the Security Council.
This listing comes seven months after China, a close ally of Pakistan, put a ‘technical hold’ on a joint proposal by India and the US to designate the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist as a global terrorist.
In June 2022, India slammed China after it blocked the proposal to list terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki under the Sanctions Committee, also known as the UNSC 1267 Committee.
“On January 16, 2023, the Security Council Committee pursuant to resolutions 1267 (1999), 1989 (2011) and 2253 (2015) concerning ISIL (Da’esh), Al-Qaida, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings and entities approved the addition of the entry specified below to its ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida Sanctions List of individuals and entities subject to the assets freeze, travel ban and arms embargo set out in paragraph 1 of Security Council resolution 2610 (2021) and adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations,” the UN said in a statement.
India and the US have already listed Makki as a terrorist under their domestic laws. He has been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalizing youth to violence and planning attacks in India, especially in Jammu and Kashmir.
Makki’s case was submitted on June 1, 2022 by India with the US joining as a co-designating state. One member state placed a technical hold on June 16, 2022 and renewed its hold in mid-December.
India had made listings of Pak-based terrorists a top priority of its UNSC tenure during 2021-22. A total of five names – Abdul Rehman Makki (LeT), Abdul Rauf Asghar (JeM), Sajid Mir (LeT), Shahid Mahmood (LeT), and Talha Saeed (LeT) – were submitted by India for designation under 1267 in 2022.
Each of these five names was initially placed on technical hold by one member state (China) while all other 14 members of the Council agreed to their listing.
In 2020, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court convicted Makki on one count of terrorism financing and sentenced him to prison, according to the US State Department.
China had earlier placed hurdles to the listing of known terrorists, particularly from Pakistan. It had repeatedly blocked proposals to designate Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of the Pakistan-based and UN-proscribed terrorist entity, the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).