Roving Periscope: China shocks Pakistan as UNSC declares Makki a “global terrorist”
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Failing rapidly as a nation-state amid collapsing economy, widespread famine-like conditions, and the looming threat of a civil war, Pakistan on Monday was rudely shocked when its “all-weather” friend China ditched it at the United Nations, enabling the Security Council to pronounce Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyaba deputy chief Abdul Rehman Makki a “global terrorist.”
China’s move to ‘teach Pakistan’ a lesson came within days of a Pakistani official posted at its Embassy in Beijing tweeted ‘support’ to the Uighur Muslims. Even the Taliban, the Arabs, the Iranians, and the Turks have so far carefully refrained from commenting on the plight of millions of Uighur Muslims lest it irritates China. Beijing has for years been stonewalling such attempts and facing global condemnation for its ill-treatment of this minority in the Eastern Turkestan (which China claims as “Xinjiang”, or western province).
Globally isolated as it battles the fresh outbreak of the Covid-19 infection tsunami, China took this opportunity at the UNSC to arm-twist the fall guy Pakistan and somewhat improve its own blotted record on the international forum.
But, having sunk billions of dollars into the USD 62 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Beijing cannot simply ditch Islamabad altogether. So, after its U-turn at the UNSC, Beijing promptly praised Islamabad, which sheltered Makki and countless other terrorists, for its “counter-terror record.”
With this carrot-and-stick policy, China also reminded Pakistan to do more to protect the CPEC and the Chinese workforce. Despite the Pakistan Army protecting them, these Chinese assets have come under repeated terror attacks from the Taliban and Balochistan groups.
China’s strategy vis-à-vis Pakistan unfolded on Monday when it released a “technical hold” it had placed last year to protect at least five Pakistan-based terrorists from being blacklisted.
In 2022, misusing its veto, Beijing placed holds to prevent the UNSC’s blacklisting of Makki and four other Pakistan-protected terrorists. Makki is a deputy and brother-in-law of LeT chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed.
In June 2022, India slammed China after it blocked the proposal to list Makki under the Sanctions Committee, also known as the UNSC 1267 Committee.
Abdul Rehman Makki and other LeT operatives have been involved in raising funds, recruiting and radicalizing youth to violence, and planning attacks in India, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
While Makki has been a senior leader of LeT and Jamaat-ul-Dawa (JUD), LeT launched several terror attacks against India, including the Red Fort attack (December 22, 2000), and the Mumbai attack (November 26-28, 2008).
After years of efforts to get the Pakistan-sponsored, trained, funded, supported, and protected terrorists blacklisted, India welcomed the UNSC decision on Makki,68, to include him in the list of blacklisted terrorists, subjecting him to an assets freeze, travel ban, and arms embargo.
All decisions to list individuals and entities under the 1267 Sanctions Committee are made through consensus. Of the 15 UNSC members of the Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee, veto-wielding Permanent Member China was the sole hold-out during the process to list Makki.
