Before French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna’s first trip to the country next Wednesday, France is working with India on a plan to make Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists Mohiuddin Aurangzeb Alamgir and Ali Kashif Jan globally designated terrorists by the UNSC 1267 sanctions committee. Colonna’s first trip as a minister will be to Delhi on September 14-15, where she will meet the country’s top leaders.
The ministry of home affairs said on April 12 that Aurangzeb Alamgir, also known as Mujahid Bhai, and Ali Kashif Jan, also known as Jan Ali Kashif, were terrorists under the UAPA, which was passed in 1967. Alamgir, who lived in the Pakistani city of Bahawalpur, was the main planner, fund-raiser, and infiltration commander for the 2019 Pulwama terror attack, in which a JeM suicide bomber killed 40 CRPF soldiers. Officials say that Alamgir is also to blame for letting Afghan terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir and for setting up terror attacks in the Valley.
Ali Kashif Jan, who lives in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa city of Charsadda, is the operational commander and a member of the core planning committee of the Bahawalpur-based JeM group, which is run by the Masood Azhar Alvi family business, officials said.
Jan was in charge of the terrorists who attacked the Pathankot Air Force Station in 2016. He is a main suspect in many cases that are being looked into by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). Jan is one of the most important JeM leaders. He runs operations from the Sialkot sector in Jammu, which is across the Line of Control, and sends infiltrators into India while the Pakistan Army fires at them to protect them.
France and India brought this proposal to the 1267 Committee, but the two Pakistanis will only be labelled as global terrorists if none of the five permanent members of the UNSC use their veto. China has always blocked similar proposals from India and its allies, but the US is likely to back the new designation. The relationship between the UK and Russia could go either way, since Moscow is China’s new “no limits” ally and the UK has close ties to Pakistan.
Foreign Minister Colonna’s trip will strengthen strategic ties between the two countries and move forward the decisions made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron when Modi visited Paris on May 4. The relationship between India and France is both politically and strategically important. The two countries are building a network of trilateral relationships with the UAE, Australia, and Southeast Asia, which is similar to the QUAD grouping.
Even though France is a close ally of the US, its anchor in India gives it strategic freedom in the Indo-Pacific. The two countries work together on many things, such as mapping the ocean floor, dark shipping, maritime domain awareness, and space security.
France is willing to work with India on defence and is willing to give the twin engine AMCA project its full technology, from the frame to the engines. It is also ready to work with India to build advanced submarines, even ones that run on nuclear power, as well as missiles, ammunition that stays in place, and aircraft engines as part of the “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” initiative. But the national security advisors of the two countries handle the defence side of the relationship.
Senior officials say that Minister Colonna will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and NSA Ajit Doval to talk about the serious problems in Ukraine and Taiwan, as well as the threat of terrorism and radicalization from the Af-Pak region. The French minister will also talk about the Indo-Pacific, cyber security, cyber defence, the Jaitapur civil nuclear power station, and cooperation in space.
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