Sushma Swaraj to raise Azhar Masood issue with China in Moscow

Mumbai: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj who will leave on Saturday to attend the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral in Moscow, will raise the proscription of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar with her Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the meeting.

“I am going to Moscow. The final investigation report into fire tragedy in which we lost Pooja Kallur and Krishma Bhonsle is on my agenda,” Swaraj tweeted.

She added that she will also be taking up the matter of Yasir, an Indian national from Srinagar who was killed in Kazan in Russia.

After the attack on the Pathankot airbase in January, India in February had written to the UN calling for immediate action to list Masood Azhar under the UN Sanctions Committee.

All were told that if there are no objections were raised, the designation will be announced after the expiry of the deadline, but just hours before the deadline, China requested the UN. committee to keep on hold the designation.

China said, that any listing would have to meet the requirements, stressing that it was the Council members’ responsibility to ensure that the criteria were followed.

Swaraj will embark on a two-nation visit today where she will travel to Iran for a Joint Commission meeting and from there she will fly to Russia for the trilateral.

ANI