Post Azhar push, Pak bid to list three Indians as terror sponsors

New Delhi, June 24

In its eighth term at the UN Security Council, India will have to spend its diplomatic energy on fending off attempts by Pakistan to list three Indians as designated terrorists after the US blocked its first bid to list another Indian.

Last year, Pakistan had proposed the designation of four Indian nationals under the UN 1267 Sanctions List under which Masood Azhar was named as a listed terrorist. The US did not see much substance in the Pakistan proposal to target Venumadhav Dongara, an engineer, who at the time, was working on an Afghanistan project. Pakistan has now turned its attention to three others — Ajoy Mistry, Gobinda Patnaik and Angara Appaji — alleging they were using their work as engineers as a cover to provide financial, technical and material support to terrorist groups, including the TTP, Tariq Gidar Group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jamaat-ul-Ahrar.

“We are disappointed that Pakistan’s proposal to designate Venumadhav Dongara as a terrorist has been objected to. Pakistan hopes that the listing requests of other three Indian nationals will be given due consideration by the UNSC 1267 Sanctions Committee in an objective and transparent manner,” read a Pakistan Foreign Office statement.

“Taking advantage of the prolonged conflict in our neighbourhood, India has fomented terrorism inside Pakistan by providing training, financial and material support to terrorist groups to kill innocent people in Pakistan. These Indian nationals are now residing in India with impunity which vindicates Pakistan’s position that India is a state-sponsor of terrorism,’’ it added. Pakistan was unable to provide additional evidence to back up its accusations against Dongara, working with a RPG group company, of having orchestrated the Peshawar airbase attack last year. Pakistan began the move to accuse the four Indians in March last year, which sources say was retaliation for New Delhi’s vigorous efforts to get Jaish chief Masood Azhar listed as a designated terrorist.

Getting wind of the FIR against Dongara filed in Peshawar, Indian agencies managed to ask Dongara to leave Afghanistan in order to preclude the possibility of Pakistani agencies kidnapping him. The other three Indians are also back in the country. — TNS