China sealing border with Pakistan to tackle terror?

New Delhi: In a surprising development that is bound to trigger allegations of Chinese hypocrisy, there were some media reports from Beijing on Wednesday which suggested that China is virtually sealing its border with Pakistan to clamp down on movement of terrorists. This comes at a time when China has refused to share India’s concerns on getting Pakistan-based terror outfit JeM’s chief Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN.

According to some media reports from Beijing, the head of the government of China’s often-restive border province of Xinjiang was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying that security along the China-Pakistan border would be further tightened “to prevent terrorists from entering or leaving the region illegally in 2017”. According to these reports, Xinjiang Communist Party leaders have expressed fears of militants getting training in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and returning to the province to carry out terror attacks. The statements apparently followed a raid in which three terrorists in Xinjiang’s Hotan prefecture were killed on Sunday, and the action followed a terrorist attack on December 28 in Hotan that killed five people.

Speaking at the regional People’s Congress, Xinjiang chairman Shohrat Zakir reportedly said that the government has stepped up its efforts in entry-exit system to curb illegal movement of people across the border. Officials including the Communist Party head of Kashgar prefecture, which borders Pakistan, too stressed on the need to check illegal infiltration from Pakistan. Terrorists who carried out attacks in the region in recent years received training abroad and returned illegally, Communist Party official Aniwar Turson reportedly said in Kashgar in Xinjiang. Chinese news agency Xinhua was quoted in these media reports as saying, “ Xinjiang has been China’s main battleground in the fight against terrorism,” adding that suspects were killed when they resisted arrest. Ironically, while the Chinese are trying to protect themselves against the menace of Pakistan-based terrorism, Beijing has refused to understand New Delhi’s concerns on the same matter. China had recently placed a “permanent block” on the Indian move in the UN to designate terror outfit JeM Masood Azhar as a terrorist, after which India had lashed out, terming it “an unfortunate blow to the concerted efforts to effectively counter all forms of terrorism, and (which) confirms prevalence of double standards in the fight against terrorism”.

All other 14 members in the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council had supported the Indian move which fell through after the Chinese veto. The 15 members of the UN Security Council are members of the committee.

In its reaction then, the MEA had said, “We note with concern China’s decision to block the proposal to list Masood Azhar as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council which had been presented nine months ago and had received the strong backing of all other members of the Committee. The international community is aware that the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed which is proscribed by the United Nations, has been responsible for innumerable terrorist attacks on India including the Pathankot Air Base attack. The inability of the international community to list its leader Masood Azhar is an unfortunate blow to the concerted efforts to effectively counter all forms of terrorism, and confirms prevalence of double standards in the fight against terrorism. This decision by China is surprising as China herself has been affected by the scourge of terrorism and has declared opposition to all forms of terrorism. As a consequence of this decision, the UN Security Council has again been prevented from acting against the leader of a listed terrorist organisation.”