China refuted the allegations by some Indian officials that China has double standards when it comes to adding people to a UN Security Council blacklist of groups linked to al Qaeda.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang expressed China's stance at a daily press briefing when commenting on reports that two Indian ministers on January 4 called for China to review its technical hold on India's application to list Massod Azhar, the head of the militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.

Geng said the voices alleging China had double standards on the issue did not hold water, and China has always held that people should make decisions on listing matters based on solid evidence. He added that China has long been holding an objective, just and professional attitude on the issue.

Geng noted that as various parties were divided on India's application to list Azhar, it had proposed the technical hold to the listing application in order to give more time for the committee to deliberate and for further negotiations among the relevant parties.

"However, all related parties have not reached consensus so far," Geng said, adding that China's moves were aimed at ensuring the authority and effectiveness of the committee.

China will maintain dialogue and coordination on the issue with all related parties, including India, on the basis of the the mandate of relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the committee's rules of procedure, Geng said.

Both China and India are victims of terrorism, and the two sides share the same goal on the issues, Geng said, adding that China and India must maintain cooperation in fighting terrorism, and China will enhance the cooperation to contribute to regional peace.

As the two biggest developing countries, forging a closer relationship between India and China conforms to the interests of the two peoples. Therefore, China maintains the stance that it would like to develop the partnership of strategic cooperation with India, Geng said.

(Xinhua News Agency January 5, 2017)