China refuses to back India's request to list JeM chief Masood Azhar as global terrorist by UN

NEW DELHI: Even as it condemned Thursday's terror attack on the CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama, China on Friday flatly refused to back India's request to list terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the United Nations.

“We are deeply shocked by this attack. We offer our condolences and sympathies to the injured and families of the bereaved. We firmly oppose and strongly condemn all form of terrorism,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.

“We hope all relevant regional countries will cooperate to deal with the threat of terrorism and jointly uphold the regional peace and stability,” he said.

However, when asked to comment if China will rethink its decision on Masood Azhar this year, Geng said, “As to the issue of the listing, I can tell you that 1267 committee of the Security Council has clear stipulations on the listing and the procedure of terrorist organization and individuals and the JeM which has taken the responsibility of the attack has been included on the Security Council counter-terrorism list.”

"As to the listing of the individual, we have always dealt with the issue in an earnest, professional and responsible manner," he added. 

China, however, condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that left 44 CRPF troopers dead, saying it was deeply shocked over the incident and firmly opposed to terrorism.

The JeM - a Pakistan-based outfit – had claimed responsibility for the attack in Pulwama district. 

It was one of the worst attacks on the security forces ever since a separatist campaign broke out in Jammu and Kashmir way back in 1989.

Sending out a tough message to Pakistan, the government on Friday withdrew the 'most-favoured nation' status to Pakistan, a move which would enable India to increase customs duty on goods coming from the neighbouring country.

In a media briefing after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the most-favoured-nation (MFN) status to Pakistan stands revoked.

India granted the MFN status to Pakistan way back in in 1996, but the neighbouring country has not yet reciprocated.

The MFN status was accorded under WTO's General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

Both India and Pakistan are signatories to this; and are members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which means they have to treat each other and the other WTO member countries as favoured trading partners in terms of imposing customs duties on goods.