Pakistan diverting narrative on Azhar listing: India

New Delhi, May 1 (IANS) India on Wednesday dismissed claims by Pakistan that the listing of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist had been agreed upon after removing "all political references" including "attempts to link it with the terror attack in Pulwama".

"The objective has been the designation of Masood Azhar as a terrorist and that objective has been achieved. Pakistan is mischievously attempting to salvage something out of this huge diplomatic setback for them by diverting the narrative," a source said.

"The process of listing started in 2009. Since then, several efforts have been made to list Masood Azhar. This was much before Pulwama terror attack took place," the source said.

Pulwama happened to be the latest "but the designation was not based on a specific incident but on the basis of evidence shared with members of the 1267 Sanctions Committee linking Masood Azhar to terrorism".

"It is not supposed to be a bio-data of a terrorist that all acts of terror committed by him would be listed in the notification. However, all acts of terrorism, including Pulwama, were relevant to the listing," the source said, adding the text of the resolution "broadly covers all terror activities he has been involved in".

Soon after the resolution was adopted, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal said that it was agreed after removing "all political references", including "attempts to link it with Pulwama and maligning the legitimate struggle of the Kashmiris for realisation of the right to self-determination".