Not Opposed To Banning Masood Azhar, Anyone Involved In Terror Must Be Listed By UN: Saudi Minister
Adel bin Al-Jubeir said that the joint press statement by Saudi Arabia-Pakistan calling for avoiding politicisation of the UN listing is not directed to Indias attempt to ban Jaish-e-Mohammed JeM Masood Azhar by the UN. He also said that anyone involved in the terror should be punished. He said that his country will consider playing a role to help in bring the tension between India and Pakistan down if both countries want it.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Adel bin Al-Jubeir said that the joint press statement by Saudi Arabia-Pakistan calling for avoiding "politicisation" of the UN listing is not directed to India's attempt to ban Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) Masood Azhar by the UN. He also said that anyone involved in the terror should be punished.
Reuters
He spoke to PTI and he said that his country will "consider playing a role" to help in bring the tension between India and Pakistan down if both countries want it. He also rejected that the Saudi Arabia-Pakistan statement on Monday was against India bid to get Masood Azhar banned at UN and listing him as "global terrorist".
"Any person who is a terrorist should be designated. The idea was to ensure that there is no politicisation so that people don't throw names of their political opponents as terrorists. We should not be careless about throwing names of those who are not terrorists," he said.
"I think people here assumed that the joint (Pakistan-Saudi) statement had to do with one particular individual (Azhar). It did not. The intention was that the process of designation is clear and not political," Al-Jubeir, who is here with the Saudi Crown Prince, said.
He said his country follows a zero policy tolerance for terrorism and "anyone who supports and finances the menace must be designated and must be punished". The tension between India and Pakistan are high after 40 CRPF soldiers were killed in terrorist attack in Pulwama for JeM has claimed responsibility.
"We hope tension between India and Pakistan will not escalate. You have wise leadership in both the countries represented by respective prime ministers. I believe they will be able to find a way to de-escalate," he said. However, he said: "We will not involve ourselves into the tensions between India and Pakistan without being invited by both the countries."
He further said, "we have good relations with both countries and if both want us to play some kind of a role, we would consider it."
AFP
"Nobody wants to see armed conflict between two nuclear powers. Nobody benefits except terrorists. I believe the leadership recognises it. It is our hope that issues can be resolved peacefully," he said.
(With PTI inputs)
