China has blocked a move by India and the US in the United Nations (UN) to blacklist Hafiz Talah Saeed, son of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) chief Hafiz Saeed.

It is the second time in as many days that Beijing has thwarted any proposal to take action against Pakistan-based terrorists. It has come to Pakistan’s rescue five times in the last four months at the world body.

Taking note of China’s actions, visiting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday said, “Geopolitical divides make it difficult for us to work together effectively against terrorism.”

He made these remarks after China late on Tuesday blocked the listing of Pakistan-based LeT terrorist Shahid Mahmood as a global terrorist.  This proposal too was initiated by India and the US.

The latest block came late on Wednesday in the UN regarding Hafiz Talha Saeed, 46, a key leader of the LeT and son of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Saeed. In April this year, he had been declared a terrorist by the Indian Government. China placed a hold on the proposal under the 1267 Al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.

In a notification, the Home Ministry had said Hafiz Talha Saeed has been actively involved in recruitment, fund collection, and planning and executing attacks by the LeT in India and Indian interests in Afghanistan.

He has also been actively visiting various LeT centres across Pakistan, and during his sermons propagating for jehad against India, Israel, the US, and Indian interests in other western countries, it had stated. Hafiz Talha Saeed is the head of the cleric wing of the terrorist organisation.

On Tuesday, China blocked a proposal by India and the US at the United Nations to list Pakistan-based LeT leader Shahid Mahmood as a global terrorist. Beijing placed a hold on the proposal by India and the US to designate Mahmood, 42, as a global terrorist.

The US Department of Treasury had designated Mahmood as well as another LeT leader Muhammad Sarwar in December 2016 as part of the action “to disrupt LeT fundraising and support networks.”

This is the fifth time in four months that China has put a hold on listing proposals to designate Pakistan-based terrorists under the 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee regime.

In June this year, China put a hold, at the last moment, on a joint proposal by India and the US to blacklist Pakistan-based terrorist Abdul Rehman Makki. He is a US-designated terrorist and brother-in-law of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba head and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed.

Then in August, China again put a hold on a proposal by the US and India to blacklist the senior leader of Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) Abdul Rauf Azhar.

In September, Beijing blocked a proposal moved at the UN by the US and co-supported by India to designate LeT terrorist Sajid Mir, wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, as a global terrorist. Mir is one of India’s most wanted terrorists and has a bounty of USD5 million placed on his head by the US for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.

In June this year, he was jailed for over 15 years in a terror-financing case by an anti-terrorism court in Pakistan, which is struggling to exit the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force(FATF).    

Pakistani authorities had in the past claimed Mir had died, but Western countries remained unconvinced and demanded proof of his death. This issue became a major sticking point in the FATF’s assessment of Pakistan’s progress on the action plan late last year.