Pressure mounts on Pakistan as France decides to move proposal to ban JeM chief Masood Azhar at UN 

France will push for a new proposal to list Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist. Jaish-e Mohammad, the Pakistan based terror group, took responsibility of Pulwama attack that killed 40 CRPF personnel in Jammu and Kashmir on February 14.

France's decision came after a discussion between Philippe Etienne, Diplomatic Advisor to the French President, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on Tuesday morning. 

In 2016, India had requested the Security Council Committee, established pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1267, to include Masood Azhar in the list of "designated sanctioned entities", declaring him an international terrorist.

China has been blocking his listing citing lack of consensus.

Just a day after the ghastly Pulwama attack, India asked China again if it will support Azhar's listing as an international terrorist; Bejing reiterated its stance.

Spokesperson of Chinese foreign ministry, Geng Shuang, said, "the UN Security Council 1267 Committee has detailed criteria for the listing and designation procedures for terrorist entities or individuals. China will continue to deal with the relevant listing issue in a constructive and responsible manner. We will also keep in close communication with all relevant parties on this issue."

Paris will also be backing Pakistan's continuation on the FATF greylist. Islamabad was put on the greylist last year after which the South Asian nation came under the financial jurisdiction with “structural deficiencies” in anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT).

India has started a diplomatic campaign against Pakistan to isolate the country as a fallout of Pulwama terror attack. The Ministry of External Affairs briefed envoys of more 30 countries over Islamabad's involvement in Pulwama terror attack and its continued support to terror as a state policy.

Meanwhile, Iran has named a Pakistani national in connection to last week's terror attack which killed 27 of its Revolutionary Guards. Local media reported that Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Ground Force, Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour said Hafiz Mohammad Ali, a Pakistani national, was behind the terror attack.

Over the weekend, Iran summoned its envoy to Pakistan and lodged a strong protest against the terror attack. Tehran also highlighted the growing number of terrorist attacks "designed in and led from Pakistan including the latest terrorist attack", according to a release from Iranian foreign ministry.