In what comes as a major diplomatic victory for India and a massive setback to Pakistan, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), world’s top anti-terrorism monitoring watchdog, has decided to keep Islamabad on its “grey list” for the Imran Khan government’s abject failure to fully comply with a 27-point action plan which was given to it.
“Pakistan will stay on the grey list of the global terror financing watchdog till February next year,” the watchdog ruled on Friday after the conclusion of its three-day plenary. “Pakistan failed to meet the conditions needed for unfettered access to international funds,” said the FATF.
MEA sources told The Daily Guardian that FATF came heavily down on Pakistan for failing to satisfy the multilateral watchdog on the issue of tackling terrorism operating from its soil. “Pakistan needs to do more,” said the FATF.
It said an on-site visit by the FATF would only be done once Islamabad fulfils all conditions and only then Pakistan will have the curbs lifted.
“Pakistan has completed 21 out of 27 items. It means that the world has become safer but six deficiencies need to be repaired. We give them a chance to repair their progress and if not, then a country will be pushed to the blacklist,” the FATF said. Indian officials interpret it as a hard dig by FATF at Pakistan.
Sources said that India’s evidence exposing Pakistan on the issue of terrorism was taken into consideration by the FATF and other member countries. On the basis of the evidence given by Indian diplomats, FATF noted that Islamabad demonstrably failed to act against some of the world’s most wanted terrorists like Maulana Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim. India had launched an intensive diplomatic lobbying to ensure that Pakistan does not get off the grey list of FATF. Sources said that it is India’s major diplomatic victory and a big jolt to Pakistan.
According to an official, Pakistan PM Imran Khan had also deployed his diplomats who were trying to convince FATF and the US of the propaganda that their country is itself a victim of terrorism. “But playing the victim card did not help it, as India had given sufficient proof of how state actors, Pak Army and ISI, are patronising terrorists and that was convincing for FATF,” an official said. “But the task of getting Pak blacklisted remains to be done,” he said.
“Pakistan had also failed to effectively crackdown on means of financing terror activities and money laundering,” was another observation by the FATF. Sources said that four nominating countries—US, UK, France and Germany—were not fully satisfied with its role in Afghanistan.
With Pakistan staying in the grey list, it has become increasingly difficult for it to get financial aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Union, exacerbating problems for the cash-strapped country.
Pakistan was placed on the grey list by the FATF in June 2018 and was given a plan of action to complete it by October 2019. Since then, the country continues to be on that list due to its failure to comply with the FATF mandates.
According to sources, Turkey tried to defend Pakistan proposing that members should consider its “good work”. It suggested that the FATF should send an on-site team to Pakistan to finalise its assessment instead of waiting for the completion of the remaining six out of 27 parameters.
Sources said that none of the 38 members of the FATF backed Turkey’s proposal for on-site inspections in Pakistan. China, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia also did not back Turkey’s proposal, sources said. As of 2020, there are only two countries on the FATF’s black list—North Korea and Iran.
Earlier, India had stepped up pressure on FATF by highlighting how Pakistan had failed to act against terrorists and terror organisations.
As global anti-terror watchdog FATF was reviewing Pakistan’s performance in curbing terror-financing, India had said the neighbouring country continues to provide safe havens to terror entities as well as UN-designated terrorists including Masood Azhar and Zakir-ur-Rahman Lakhvi.
MEA spokesman Anurag Srivastava had said on Thursday that Pakistan has addressed only 21 out of 27 “action items” prescribed by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to contain terror financing. When asked about the possibility of the FATF blacklisting Pakistan for failing to check terror financing, Srivastava said the global anti-terror watchdog has laid out standards and procedures for such action.
“As is well known, Pakistan continues to provide safe havens to terrorist entities and individuals and has also not yet taken any action against several terrorist entities and individuals including those proscribed by the UNSC such as Masood Azhar, Dawood Ibrahim, Zakir-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, etc,” Srivastava added.