India slams use of ‘hidden veto’ in UN

India on Friday slammed the use of the “hidden veto” and demanded accountability, saying the United Nations’ general members are “never ever” informed of the reason for not acceding to requests for sanctioning terrorists, days after China blocked India’s bid to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar.

India’s permanent representative to the UN Syed Akbaruddin strongly criticised the “anonymity” surrounding the functioning of the UN Security Council’s Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee saying the general UN membership is kept in the dark of how the council’s 15 members decide on requests made by other nations to sanction terrorists.

“The procedures of unanimity and anonymity of the Al Qaeda, Taliban and ISIS Sanctions Committees need to be revisited. Currently, they result in a lack of accountability,” Mr Akbaruddin told the United Nations Security Council in an open debate on “Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts” here.

Against the backdrop of China last month again blocking India’s bid to ban the mastermind of the Pathankot terror attack Azhar in the UN Sanctions Committee, Mr Akbaruddin said each of the 15 members in the committee now have a veto.

Without naming China, he said none except these 15 members are told of who is it that has wielded the veto in a specific instance.

“The general membership of the UN is never ever formally informed of how and why requests for listing terrorists are not acceded to. Counter-terror mechanisms such as the Sanctions Committees that act on behalf of the international community need to build trust not engender impunity by the use of this form of a ‘hidden veto’,” Mr Akbaruddin said.

He said the sanctions committees need to foster tangible support for greater responsiveness to member states’ requests for preventive listings to counter terror.