China considering India s proposal to ban Masood Azhar (Lead)

New Delhi March 7 (IANS) A Communist Party of China official said here on Tuesday that terror bases in Pakistan should be eradicated and that Beijing was considering and investigating India s proposal to get Pakistan-based terrorist leader Masood Azhar listed on the UN terror catalogue.

Ma Xiangwu however said China had to look into all aspects of backing the Indian move at the UN Security Council considering whether if we were to support this decision will it grow into a bigger problem for China.

He didn t elaborate while speaking to IANS on the margins of the 19th Asian Security Conference at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA).

India has been seeking to blacklist Azhar the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief after Pakistani terrorists attacked the airbase at Pathankot in Punjab on January 2 last year killing seven Indian security personnel.

China has blocked India s move at the UN apparently so as not to harm its strong ties with Pakistan.

The Chinese official however acknowledged that terror camps in Pakistan were a matter of concern for China because Taliban was training members of the Uighur militant group the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM).

The terrorism in Pakistan should be eradicated. So there is no exception. There is no good and bad terrorism he said calling China a victim of terror.

Chinese position on terrorism has been consistent. The Chinese government believes that we need to work under UN framework for countering terrorism. All of us need to come together to counter terror.

He said the Taliban terror sanctuaries in Pakistan hosted China camp which has around 320 Uighur terrorists.

He acknowledged that Islamabad had been cooperating with Beijing in its fight against the separatist group that China blames for violent unrest in its far western region of Xinjiang. The group fights for an independent state and has bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Ma said Pakistan had been sending these Uighur militants back and will repatriate all these terrorists.

Last year 20 of these terrorists came back to China. They will be tried based on the crimes they have committed. They will be given appropriate punishment.

--IANS
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