With the Pakistan foreign minister demanding credible evidence from India to act against any terrorist operating from their soil and de-escalate the simmering tension between the two neighbours in the wake of Pulwama attack, the big question is whether India's diplomatic blitzkrieg under the Narendra Modi regime would force Pakistan to act against Jaish chief Masood Azhar who could not be designated as a global terrorist owing to the opposition of China.

China so far is non-committal about its stand on a fresh proposal moved by the US, the UK and France at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC)  to designate Pakistan based  Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist amid the high tension military standoff between India and Pakistan and an ongoing diplomatic war post Pulwama incident where 40 Indian soldiers were killed by a JeM suicide bomber on Feb 14.

Communist China, a close ally of Pakistan, having long term interest in the Kashmir valley consistently blocked moves first by India and later by the US, the UK and France to designate Azhar as a global terrorist by the 1267 Committee by putting technical holds, media reports said.

Day after India's counter-strike on the biggest JeM terror camp in Pakistan, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj visited China to take part in the Russia-India-China (RIC) trilateral meeting.

While she raised the issue of cross-border terrorism in her talks with her Chinese and Russian counterparts in the meeting in Wuzhen, the talks gained further significance in the wake of Tuesday's airstrikes where the Indian Mirage 2000 jets entered Pakistani airspace and bombed the training camps of Jaish.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi  at the end of the RIC Foreign Ministers’ meet said: “We agreed to jointly combat all forms of terrorism through closer policy coordination and practical cooperation. Especially important is to eradicate the breeding grounds of terrorism and extremism."

Reacting to the massive development along India-Pakistan border, China on Tuesday called for restraint and urged  India to carry out its fight against terrorism through international cooperation. Even in times when other major economies have supported India’s pre-emptive strike.

The European Union (EU) has called for 'maximum restraint' from India, Pakistan after the airstrike, reported AFP.

France has also called for restraint but also supported India's "legitimacy to ensure security" and asked Pakistan "to put an end to the operations of terrorist groups established on its territory".

The Australian government issued a strong statement demanding Pakistan, which has always denied its role in exporting terrorism, to take "urgent and meaningful action” against terrorist groups in its territory, including Masood Azhar's Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hafiz Saeed's Lashkar-e Taiba. Both organisations carried out multiple terror strikes in India but enjoy a free run in Pakistan.

In a press release, the Australian government said, "Pakistan must do everything possible to implement its own proscription of Jaish-e-Mohammed. It can no longer allow extremist groups the legal and physical space to operate from its territory."

"Pakistan must take urgent and meaningful action against terrorist groups in its territory, including Jaish-e-Mohammed which has claimed responsibility for the 14 February bombing, and Lashkar-e-Taiba."

According to an Indian news agency, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told the media in Beijing that the country has "taken note of relevant reports".

"I want to say that India and Pakistan are both important countries in South Asia. A sound relationship and cooperation between the two serves the interests of both the countries and peace and stability in South Asia," he said.

Most of the nations have supported India after the February 14 terror attack. France said it would move a proposal at the United Nations to designate Masood Azhar as a global terrorist.

Asked about India's right to self-defence, US president Donald Trump had earlier said: "India is looking at something very strong. And I mean, India just lost almost 50 people with an attack. So, I could understand that also".

The Indian government briefed representatives of 12 nations about the pre-emptive air strikes. The meeting was attended by diplomats from the US, UK, Russia, Australia, Indonesia, Turkey and six ASEAN nations.

Sushma Swaraj also raised the issue of terror when she represented India for the first time at a meeting of foreign ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the UAE.

Much to the chagrin of Pakistan, Swaraj  addressed the inaugural plenary session of the meeting in Abu Dhabi on March 1 as a guest of honour, and officials have described the invitation to India as a key foreign policy success in efforts to strengthen relations with Arab and Muslim-majority countries.

“If we want to save humanity, we must tell the states which provide shelter and funding to terrorists, to dismantle the infrastructure of the terrorist camps and stop providing funding shelter and funding to the terror organisations based in that country,” Swaraj said, without naming Pakistan at OIC.

But that Pakistan decided to skip the OIC meeting to protest the presence of India, speaks volumes about Indian diplomacy success. 

India earlier said that it has, from time to time, provided location of terrorist training camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir region to its neighbour. Yet, Pakistan has denied their existence.

“The existence of such massive training facilities capable of training hundreds of jidhadis could not have functioned without the knowledge of Pakistan authorities,” India's external affairs minister said.

India has launched an all-out campaign to mount international pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terror groups operating from its soil.

India has also provided fresh evidence of a JeM run mardrasa on a hill top close to where the air-strikes took place in Balakot, Pakistan.

If the resolution is passed in the UN Security Council, JeM chief Masood Azhar would be restricted to travel to different countries and also his assets will be frozen. He will also be subjected to arms embargo.

China had to sign off on the February 21 UNSC press statement that "condemned in the strongest terms the heinous and cowardly suicide bombing in Jammu and Kashmir, which resulted in over 40 Indian paramilitary forces dead and dozens wounded on February 14, 2019, for which Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility".

On the UNSC press statement condemning the Pulwama attack, a UN diplomat here said that what moved the Security Council was that "this is an issue that all the members speak with one voice in the fight against terrorism."

While Russia is also expected to support the fresh proposal, all eyes are now on China, perhaps the only friend of Pakistan, which had blocked the passage of the resolution in the past.

With the Pakistan foreign minister admitting the presence of "an ailing" Masood in Pakistan, it remains to be seen how far the Indian diplomatic onslaught works.