Hours after China put a technical hold on designating Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar under the UN Sanctions list, the United States of America has said that Xi Jinping regime’s stand on the terrorist runs contrary to its goals of regional peace.

“The United States and China share a mutual interest in achieving regional stability and peace, and a failure to designate Azhar runs counter to this goal,” a US Embassy spokesperson said.

Explaining further that US views on Jaish-e-Mohammed and its founder were well known, the spokesperson said that Azhar met every criterion for designation by the United Nations.

“JeM is a United Nations-designated terrorist group. Azhar is the founder and the leader of JeM, and he clearly meets the criteria for designation by the United Nations. JeM has been responsible for numerous terrorist attacks and is a threat to regional stability and peace,” the spokesperson said, adding that the US would continue to work with the sanctions committee to ensure that the designation list is updated and accurate.

China, once again, placed a technical hold to India’s bid to get Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed's chief Masood Azhar listed as a "global terrorist" by the UN Security Council. The move is not entirely surprising considering the history of China’s stand on the issue. India has made several pitches since the 2008 Mumbai attacks to get Azhar on the UNSC list. In the aftermath of the February 14 attack in Pulwama, three permanent members of the UNSC - the United States, Britain and France - have moved a resolution to designate Azhar as a global terrorist.

Several previous attempts by these three countries inside the UN Security Council were blocked by China, the all-weather ally of Pakistan. China, which is one of the five veto-powered members of the Security Council, so far has been asserting that there is not enough evidence against Azhar to designate him as a global terrorist.