Masood Azhar listing: Rare bonhomie as UNSC president says sanctity preserved

Indonesia, which is the president of the United Nations Security Council(UNSC) for the month of May 2019 and the chair of 1267 committee of the UNSC has said that listing of Masood Azhar as an international terrorist has preserved the sanctity and credibility of the council and focus is on fighting against terror.

Speaking to reporters at the United Nations at a press conference, Indonesia's permanent representative Dian Triansyah Djani said, "Like to underline, its not just the function of the chair, all members of the committee are working very hard. What is more important is not the role of the chair, but we have been able to preserve the sanctity and credibility of the committee and we have been able to have the listing"

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The chairperson of the United Nations sanctions committee had informed Indian envoy to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin that Masood Azhar has been listed on May 1st.

Asked about the dynamic at the UNSC, given the fact it became China vs the rest of the members of the top body of the secuity council, Indonesian envoy to UN said,"One thing is for sure, time for us to really work together, all the countries, regardless, of UNSC or other fora. We have been experiencing a lot of cases on terror attacks."

Explaining he said, "You know our stance on terrorism, we have been working very hard with others. We have been a victim of terrorism, and that precisely is the point, we took this responsibility...we trying to help in the fight against terror."

Meanwhile, the United Nations welcomed the fact all UNSC members were able to agree on the listing.The spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Stephane Dujarric said, "It's always good when all member states of the security council agree on something. We would, of course, hope that all member states abide by those decisions."

It took tenyears for the listing of Masood Azhar. India had proposed the listing in 2009, but China had continued to block the listing citing lack of consensus. In March of 2019, when China had put a hold at the listing of Masood Azhar, 14 out of 15 members of UNSC backed his listing.