Boycotting China or Chinese goods is neither possible nor a solution informed sources within the government said a day after Beijing put a technical hold on the proposal to sanction Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Maulana Masood Azhar at the UN 1267 Committee.
NSE
Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliate has called for withdrawing the 'Most Favored Nation' status for China and raising tariffs on Chinese imports as a retaliatory measure.
CNBC-TV18 has learnt that India deliberately chose not to name China in its formal statement so as to leave room for negotiations. China’s technical hold will last for three months and after that, the country can either lift the hold or extend it by another three months.
Minutes after China applied a technical hold, the ministry of external issued a statement, “UN 1267 Sanctions Committee, upon completion of the no-objection period on March 13, 2019, was not able to come to a decision on the proposal for listing Azhar under the UN Sanctions regime, on account of a member placing the proposal on hold. We are disappointed by this outcome. We will continue to pursue all available avenues to ensure that terrorist leaders who are involved in heinous attacks on our citizens are brought to justice."
Sources privy to the developments told CNBC-TV18 that India avoided harsh language in order to keep the dialogue open with Beijing.
Reacting to China’s move a high level US diplomat told the PTI, "If China continues to block this designation, responsible member states may be forced to pursue other actions at the Security Council. It shouldn’t have to come to that."
Sources say while the international opinion was largely in favour of imposing sanctions on Azhar, China has shown that it would not act under the pressure of anyone and especially the United States. The feeling within the government is that China may agree on sanctioning Azhar in future but it would like to show the world that its decision was an independent one.
The proposal to sanction Azhar at the UN ISIL and Al-Qaida Sanctions Committee had been moved by US, UK, France and Germany after the attack in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. Seven others co-sponsored the proposal and even countries outside the UN Security Council supported the move.
Defending Beijing's technical hold, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said, "China conducts a thorough and in-depth assessment of these applications and we still need more time, so that is why we put forward the technical hold."