China's move on Zakiur Lakhvi not about terrorism, but about sending India & US a signal

[Levina]

25 Jun, 2015, 11.00AM IST
China's move on Zakiur Lakhvi not about terrorism, but about sending India & US a signal - The Economic Times

The Chinese bailout of Pakistan on the Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi case in the United Nations on Tuesday was as obvious as a hurtling fivetonne truck around the corner. What was more astonishing was that one expected that the UN Sanctions Committee would ask Pakistan to rearrest Lakhvi. The release last April of the mastermind of 26/11 was in violation of the UN resolution on terrorist organisations and groups.

The Chinese have behaved similarly in the past. Beijing blocked sanctions against the Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar in 2009. In December 2010, they prevented the UN Security Council (UNSC) from imposing sanctions on Hafiz Saeed and the Jamat-ud Dawa. And earlier this year, they blocked Indian efforts to put Hizb-ul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin on the terrorist list.

Lakhvi is not important to the Chinese. But the symbolism of their move is. It suits China to be difficult with India and express its irritation with our attitude on oil exploration in the South China Sea.

A veto on Lakhvi is a painless exhibition of solidarity with Pakistan that plays the victim card effectively. Beijing is aware that Pakistan will never take any action in the 26/11 case that will give India comfort. It is simply gathering another IOU from Pakistan knowing how important Lakhvi's incarceration is for India.

Standing by a friend with whom the friendship is a 'higher than the mountains' sort of thing is kosher. Especially at a time when US popularity in Pakistan is at a low ebb, and Washington is inclined to be more passive in these matters. The Chinese support is not about terrorism, but about sending a political signal to India and the US.

China and Pakistan have been close friends for decades and both have needed each other. It is a relationship based on a common enmity with India with 1962 and 1965 being landmark years. Pakistan helped China break its isolation when it set up the Nixon-Mao meeting in 1972. India campaigned for China's permanent membership in the UNSC (P5), but got no thanks for it as it happened too late, eventually in 1971.

Pakistani-Chini Bhai-Bhai

Pakistan was a frontline state in the Afghan jihad, a US-led Cold War front at a time when China's differences with the Soviet Union were acute. As a reward for this — and as a low-cost counter against India — the Chinese helped Pakistan acquire nuclear capability and, through the North Koreans, missile capability.

The latest mega infrastructure deal of $45 billion between China and Pakistan is more than just a counter to India-US relations. It gives China ultimate access to the Arabian Sea all the way from Gwadar to Karachi. And if Beijing plans to celebrate 2049 as a hundred years of communist rule, it would like to commemorate this by ruling the seas from the South China Sea to the Persian Gulf.

Connectivity from the coastline through Gilgit Baltistan through to Kashgar and farther into Xinjiang is of vital importance to China in its grand plan for the region. But beyond being a useful real estate for Chinese global designs, Pakistan has to factor in the well-known Chinese paranoia about internal disturbances, especially the currently ongoing Islamic movements in Xinjiang.

The Chinese are aware of Pakistani misdemeanours in Xinjiang in the past. They also know that it is the Pakistanis with their contacts among extremists who can possibly help them curb this threat. For this, China has to ensure that it makes Pakistan feel secure against a perceived Indian threat. In addition, Pakistan is another access point into the larger Muslim world for Beijing.

Pakistan, largely isolated from most of the world, looks upon China for a way out of its current economic mess. In the past, China's investments have never really been geared to help a recipient country. But India being a factor in China's calculations, it may actually provide investment that helps Pakistan.


Beijing has been quick to offer Pakistan matching deals like the ones India got from the US following the civil nuclear and military hardware deals. It will continue to block India's entry into other nuclear arrangements like the Nuclear Suppliers' Group so long as Pakistan is excluded. China will remain Pakistan's main arms and nuclear power supplier.

Friend in Need

Pakistan fears that the US might lose interest in the Af-Pak region. And it is China that they believe to be the only country to provide 'post-American' security. Which is why Islamabad would be eager to have Beijing lend a hand in Afghanistan and negotiate with the Taliban, leaving the Indians out in the cold.

China may not want a quid pro quo from Pakistan on all issues. But it'll seek cooperation in dealing with its Uighur issue in Xinjiang, where violence and unrest has broken out this week after the recent clampdown on Ramzan. The real test for China-Pakistan ties lies ahead as Beijing gets deeply involved with an increasingly radicalised Islamic state.

(The writer is former chief of R&AW)

I expected more from a former RAW chief... this article contains nothing new.

Vedic weed.

This one's for you
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[Alpha BeeTee]

where is the fun if he remains in jail .... Kashmir is quite peaceful these days while their is no major terrorist incident since 2008 in mainland .. Now he should do something stupid in Kashmir so that we can enjoy our popcorn in retaliation.

secondly Chinese gave us sweet excuse to welcome Japanese infrastructure investment in Arunachal Pradesh while we permanently entrench in south china sea.

Then why your stupid PM launched a protest (read:cry) on it.lol
He must be naive then.

 

[Dash]

I expected more from a former RAW chief... this article contains nothing new.

There is no substance in this move. Its just symbolic towards Pakistan. China will pull our leg as we troll thm in SCS. Pakistan will clap saying what a great friend. I wonder if the same friend has taken their side they raised the "K" word in UN during last session.

 

[Hindustani78]

I expected more from a former RAW chief... this article contains nothing new.


This one's for you
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What more you want to expect ? things are quite open to understand.

 

[Areesh]

Its shows the double standards of Chinese





Not true, 12 were arrested just 4 got bail , still the remaining are in jails.

No Chinese are simply supporting its ally.

And rest would get bail too. As it has been officially asked to "go soft" on them.

 

[Hindustani78]

No Chinese are simply supporting its ally.

And rest would get bail too. As it has been officially asked to "go soft" on them.

In India, judiciary system have zero tolerance on terrorism.

But it doesnt seems that case in other countries.

 

[uparyupari]

Talk about stating the Obvious.

 

[Hindustani78]

Last Updated: Monday, June 29, 2015 - 14:38
Subramanian Swamy calls for new China policy by Modi govt | Zee News


Beijing: The BJP government is following Congress' "outdated" China policy, senior party leader Subramanian Swamy said as he termed Beijing's backing to Pakistan in the UN on the Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi as a "wake up call".


Swamy said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should convene a conference of "insiders" to draw up a new policy specially after the recent Lakhvi episode.

"We are working on Congress party's outdated China policy. The Prime Minister needs to convene a conference of insiders to draw up a new China policy which should review our strength, weaknesses and opportunities," Swamy, senior member of BJP's National Executive, told Indian media here.

The present China policy lacks clarity, he said, adding: "We have a China policy but it is carry over."

Swamy, here to attend 2015 World Peace Forum conference organised by China's Tsinghua University, said China's backing to Pakistan on Lakhvi should be a "wake up call".

"I have been informed that they (China) had hinted to our people that a vote in the UN against Pakistan is premature and we did not read the signal," he said.

For China "abandoning Pakistan means empowering India. You have to empower yourself. Why should they make the road clear?" he said.

On the impact of Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India and Modi's visit here last month, Swamy said not much progress has been added except commitment of about USD 20 billion, mostly from Chinese private sector.

"We should not be carried away by atmospherics. Every visit (of Modi) is described as historic. We have not seen anything from Japan. My advice to Modi: convene a conference with people who know China, whomsoever you are comfortable with and devise a new China policy," he said.

He also said Indian navy's strength both in fleet and weapons should be vastly increased to the point that it can be deployed to police on busy shipping routes like Malacca Strait in cooperation with Indonesia which could be an "effective answer" to China's plans of 'String of Pearls' to contain India.

Swamy said India's new China policy should have a clear statement on what will be our stance on issues like in the event of China-US conflict.

"Chinese will find it acceptable to have neutrality. If it becomes public, Americans tolerate that. The China policy should have clarity. We have a China policy but it is carry over," he said.

"At the moment, there are issues between India and China that require urgent resolution. Border will be a by-product solution. Border cannot be one of the solutions," he said.

About China, he said Beijing understands India's potentiality.

"They understand that the world does not put us in the same measure as China. They recognise our potentialities and our strategic positioning in the Indian Ocean. But at the same time till India builds strength in commensurate with its potentialities, the question of negotiating an equal status with China will not happen," he said.

In order to be effective, India should make it clear that it will remain neutral in any US-China conflict on Taiwan, he said.

China views Taiwan as a rebel province that needs to be re-unified with the mainland.

"In order to carry credibility with China, we should have blue water navy, we should now develop independent fuel which is thorium and become independent of crude oil from the Middle East by developing alternative technologies like hydrogen fuel cells," he said.

India's potentialities should be fully utilised, he said. Swamy said in the light of formation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) with USD 100 billion and the initial subscribed capital of USD 50 billion, "the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) bank has become a dead letter".

Officials of 57 prospective founding countries, including India, today signed an agreement on the formation of AIIB. While China is the largest shareholder in terms of GDP and PPP (Purchasing Power Parity), India is the second largest shareholder.

Earlier speaking in the conference on the subject of 'Relations among major powers and international order', Swamy proposed "strategic triangle" between India, China and the US to meet the new situation in the 21st century.

"To further such an understanding, the present Narendra Modi government could become inclined to explore the possibility of an annual trilateral India-China-US summit meet not only to discuss global security matters but also regional issues," he said.

PTI

 

[Hindustani78]

Azhar lives in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, and runs a charitable organisation, Al Rehmat Trust, as a cover for the activities of his terror outfit, the JeM.
India has decided to drop any reference to the Uri attack from its proposal to be placed before a United Nations sanctions committee to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist, a senior government official told The Hindu.

China had put a technical hold on this proposal in April last, which was extended on October 1. Within hours of the attack on the Uri Army camp on September 18, where 18 soldiers were killed, the Director-General of Military Operations Lt. General Ranbir Singh told a press conference in Delhi that the attack was carried out by two terrorists belonging to the JeM.

NIA role

The investigation was then handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is yet to conclude its probe. Intelligence officials, however, have said the modus operandi of the Uri attack had tell tale signs that it was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, another Pakistan-based terrorist outfit.

Azhar, a resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan, has been accused by Indian agencies of orchestrating several terror attacks here, including the attack at the Pathankot airbase on January 2.

“We decided to drop any reference to Uri from the proposal as the NIA investigation have so far not led to any conclusive evidence that the JeM was involved. We will stick to the earlier cases registered against him. Initially there was a plan but it will not be there in the final document any more,” said a senior official.

The official said India would apprise the 1267 Taliban/Al-Qaeda sanctions committee that Azhar has close links to the Taliban and consequently to al-Qaeda. His involvement in the attack on Parliament in 2001 has also been included.

Azhar lives in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, and also runs a charitable organisation, Al Rehmat Trust, as a cover for the activities of his terrorist outfit, the JeM.

As reported earlier by The Hindu, the Home Ministry had constituted a three-member committee to expedite the procedures required to place Azhar, former Indian Mujahideen member Shafi Armar, who is now said to be the media chief of the Islamic State, and Hizb-ul-Mujahidden chief Syed Salahuddin on the United Nations list of proscribed terrorists.

The committee was constituted after Home and External Affairs ministries blamed each other for the delay in sending the proposal to the 1267 Taliban/Al-Qaeda sanction committee. After China put a technical hold on designating Masood Azhar as an international terrorist in April this year, India decided to send a robust proposal to the UN committee, which was put on hold by China again in October, before India could submit it.

Another official said the last listing on Masood Azhar had been filed with the UNSC 1267 committee just prior to the Uri attacks, and the government had not yet decided on filing a corollary to it. "We are waiting it out and have not filed any other listing for carefully considered reasons," the official said, in a possible indication that India hopes for a change in China's position after the meeting between NSA Ajit Doval and State Councillor Yang Jiechi in Hyderabad on November 4.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/593962/hafiz-saeed-put-house-arrest.html

Jammat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of Mumbai terror attack, was tonight placed under house arrest in Lahore, his outfit said. Punjab government's Home Department has issued detention order of Saeed and Lahore Police have reached JuD headquarters in Chauburji to implement the order, it said.

He "is at Masjid-e-Qadsia Chauburji and a heavy contingent of police has surrounded the JuD headquarters," JuD official Ahmed Nadeem, who is present at the premises of the outfit, told PTI by phone. "The commanding police officer told us that he has with him the house arrest order of the JuD chief issued by the Punjab Home Department," Nadeem said.

Punjab government's action comes amidst pressure from the Trump administration to act against terror. The US has clearly told Islamabad that in case of not taking action against JuD and Saeed, it may face sanctions.

JuD is the front for the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit which is responsible for numerous terror attacks in India, including the Mumbai terror strike of November 26,2008, which was masterminded by Saeed. JuD has already been declared as a foreign terrorist organisation’ by the United States in June 2014.