China delays bid by US and India to sanction JeM commander at UN

• India and US want Abdul Rauf Azhar to be subjected to global travel ban and asset freeze. 
• China says "we placed a hold because we need more time to study the case."
• US says it respects other countries' needs to verify that sanctions proposal meets their "domestic evidentiary threshold." 

UNITED NATIONS: China Wednesday delayed a proposal by the United States and India, seeking to sanction a top Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) commander at the UN Security Council, diplomats said.

India and the United States wanted Abdul Rauf Azhar to be subjected to a global travel ban and asset freeze. Such a move has to be agreed by all 15 members of a Security Council sanctions committee.

"We placed a hold because we need more time to study the case. Placing holds is provided for by the Committee guidelines, and there have been quite a number of similar holds by Committee members on listing requests," a spokesperson for China's mission to the United Nations told Reuters.

The US Treasury designated Azhar in 2010, accusing him of urging Pakistanis to engage in militant activities and organise suicide attacks in India.

The United States respects other countries' needs to verify that a sanctions proposal meets their "domestic evidentiary threshold to justify a listing at the UN," a spokesperson for the US mission to the United Nations said on Wednesday.

"The United States values cooperation with our Security Council partners to effectively use this tool in an apolitical way to stop terrorists from exploiting the global order to do their misdeeds," the spokesperson said.