China's blocking of terror tag for Masood Azhar will not affect resolve to fight terror: India

NEW DELHI: India on Friday said that China's continuous blocking of Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar's designation as a global terrorist by the UN will not deter it from fighting terrorism. "I think the decision by a country to block a consensus should not be seen as an end to our counter-terrorism efforts. What is important is that it does not, in any way, take away our resolve to fight terrorism," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. During a media briefing, he said India will continue to work with like-minded countries to fight terrorism. "It will not impact our resolve to fight terror," he said, referring to China's decision. China on Thursday had for the fourth time blocked the bid to list Pathankot terror attack mastermind Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN, saying "there is no consensus" within the members of the sanctions committee. A veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, China has repeatedly blocked India, the US and other nations' bid to put a ban on the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief under the Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the Council. Kumar said India had taken up the issue with the highest level of the Chinese government. On Zakir Naik, Kumar said India will soon make a formal request to Malaysia for his extradition