China has responsibility to not shield Pakistan: US
Washington, Mar 21: China has a responsibility not to shield Pakistan and should urge Islamabad to take action against terrorists, a senior Trump administration official has said, expressing deep disappointment over Beijing's decision to block a bid in the UN to designate Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as a "global terrorist".
Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) led by Azhar claimed responsibility for the February 14 terrorist attack in Kashmir's Pulwama district which killed 40 Indian security personnel.
"We think China has a responsibility to not shield Pakistan and join the international community in calling on Pakistan to take action against terrorists operating on its soil," the senior Trump administration official said on Wednesday.
After the Pulwama attack, the US, France and Britain moved a resolution in the UN Sanctions Committee of the Security Council to designate Azhar as a "global terrorist".
The move suffered a setback as China put a "technical hold" on the proposal for the fourth time, a move India termed as disappointing.
"We believe that China and the US share a mutual interest in achieving regional stability and peace. And that any failure on the Security Council as part to designate Masood Azhar as a terrorist would run counter to this mutual goal that China and the United States have," the official said.
"We don't really understand this. China should not be shielding Pakistan's support for known terrorist organisations. So, we're hoping that we can work together on a mutual goal in terms of countering terrorism and upholding our security council responsibility," the official said.
The Trump administration's view on China's decision on Azhar came as Germany initiated a move at the European Union to list the JeM leader as a global terrorist.
Nothing that it was not the first time the JeM attacked India, the official said this was the reason the Trump administration thinks now is the time for Pakistan to crackdown on the terror group.
This has been made very clear to the leadership of Pakistan, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
This same group was responsible for other attacks in India like the 2001 Parliament attack, which resulted in a six-month India-Pakistan mobilisation, the official said.
The US is also working at the United Nations, urging Pakistan to uphold its responsibilities pursuant to its UN Security Council commitments to deny safe haven and support to terrorists
and to freeze the funds and financial assets of entities on the UN Security Council 1267 sanctions list.
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Kerala court acquits actor Dileep in 2017 actress assault case, six found guilty
Kochi (PTI): A Kerala court on Monday acquitted Malayalam actor Dileep in a case relating to the sexual assault of a South Indian actress in Kochi in 2017.
The court, however, found six others, including prime accused Sunil N S alias Pulsar Suni, who directly committed the crime, guilty.
Apart from Dileep, the court also acquitted three other persons in the case.
The verdict was pronounced by Ernakulam Principal Sessions Judge Honey M Varghese, who had concluded the hearing in the lengthy trial on November 25.
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The assault on the actress, who has worked in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films, after her car was abducted for two hours, had shaken the conscience of Kerala society.
According to the prosecution, several persons forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17, 2017 and later escaped in a busy area.
The ten accused who faced trial are Sunil NS alias Pulsar Suni, Martin Antony, Manikandan B, Vijesh V P, Salim H, Pradeep, Charly Thomas, actor Dileep (real name P Gopalakrishnan), Sanil Kumar alias Mesthri Sanil, and Sharath.
Police arrested the accused soon after the incident and filed the first charge sheet against seven persons in April 2017.
During further investigation, Dileep was arrested on July 10, 2017 after the probe team found that the prime accused, Suni, had allegedly sent a letter to him from jail.
Dileep was granted bail on October 3, 2017.
