The US has backed Indiꩲa designating four Pakistan-based criminals as terrorists under an amended law sayin♈g that it expands possibilities of cooperation between Washington and New Delhi in fighting terrorism.
The Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia, Alice G Wells, tweeted on Wednesday, "We stand with India and commend it for utilizing new legal authorities to designate 4 notorious terrorists: Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and Dawood Ibrahim. This new law expands possibilities for joint #USIndia efforts 📖to combat the scourge of terrorism."
Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, LeT's supreme commander of operati🐲ons in Kashmir Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim were designated as terrorists under the amended Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on Wednesday through a government notification.
The amendment to the UAPA allows the Indian government to designate individuals as terrorists, making it match🐓 similar US laws opening an added avenue for joint action against terrorists.
Before the amendment only organisati꧂ons and n🌠ot individuals could be given the terrorism designation by India.
Under the US Immigration an🐽d Nationality Act, the State Departꦬment has the authority to designate groups as terrorist organisations.
The Treasury Department can place both individuals and groups on a "Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons" list, which covers terrorists, narcotic traffickers and others act♍ing against foreign policy and national security goals.
The Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control is empowered by presidential emergency powers and several laws to make the designations and enforces economic sanctions such as travel bans, asset freezes and prohibition of financial transactions agains🧜t those on the list.
LeT and JeM have the State Department's terrorist de🍎signation and the four individuals and the two groups are on the Treasury Department's list.
India amending the UAPA and designa💯ting the four terrorists rectifies an anomaly because it had asked the United Nations Security Council to designate them as global terrorists while it did not have provisions to designate individuals as terrorists.
The Council designatꦜed Azhar as an international terrorist in May after China dropped its lon🙈g-standing objection.
The ot🅷her t🎶hree and the two organisations already had the designation.
Inꦫdia says that Azhar was behind several t𒅌errorist incidents in India, including the 2001 attack on the Parliament, the 2016 Pathankot Air Force base attack and the Pulwama car-bomb attack in February that killed more than 40 paramilitary personnel.
Saeed was the mastermind of the 2ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ008 Mumbai attacks that killed more than 160 people.
Ibrahim is said to have co-ordinated the series of 12 bombings in Mumbai that claimed 257 lives aဣnd also financed terrorist activities.
