A day after China put a ‘hold’ on the bid to designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist, France on Friday, 15 March, decided to freeze the French assets of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Chief Masood Azhar.
In a statement, the French government said, “France has always been and always will be by India’s side in the fight against terrorism.”
“We will raise this issue with our European partners with a view to including Masood Azhar on the EU list of persons, groups and entities involved in terrorists acts,” the statement added.
On 27 February, the US, UK and France had moved a proposal to designate Azhar under the 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, which was blocked by China earlier this week.
The Ministry of External Affairs, while reacting to China’s decision, said that it was “disappointed by this outcome”.
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