With Pakistan set to submit its response to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) over the grey list at the upcoming meet from 18-21 October in Paris, India has urged the money laundering and terror financing watchdog “not to trust Islamabad’s claim that it has complied with all the conditions”. New Delhi has reached out to the FATF through diplomatic channels ahead of the body’s meeting next week to thwart Pakistan’s attempt to get off the ‘grey list’, sources told The Daily Guardian. “Pakistan is learnt to have prepared its response for the FATF, claiming that it has complied with almost all the conditions, including the prevention of money laundering and terror financing,” diplomatic sources said, adding, “India wants the watchdog to be cautious while dealing with Pakistan’s case during the session.” “Pakistan must not be taken out of the grey list, given its inability to rein in terror outfits and to stop funding to them,” Indian diplomats told the FATF, according to sources.
Sources said that Pakistan’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar will leave for Paris on October 16 to attend the FATF meeting during which discussions will be held to take Pakistan off the grey list of the forum. Pakistan’s interior ministry is learnt to have prepared “a detailed response” to be submitted by Khar to the FATF. Sources told TDG that Pakistan’s claims on tackling terrorism and funding of terror organisation are hollow and have no substance at all. “The terror funding watchdog must not trust the claims without cross checking them with the evidence its team collected during recent visit to Pakistan. Also, evidence provided by India will help the forum to cross check the claims,” sources added. “Pakistan’s backing to terror outfits and camps, its involvement in infiltration and arms supply to them is something that all the members of FATF are aware of. Moreover, substantial evidence is also lying with them that establishes all the findings,” sources said. India has now proved on many occasions that terror camps still exist in Pakistan and the global community must not turn a blind eye to the same.
Addressing the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures (CICA) Summit in Astana recently, Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi unequivocally called Pakistan as the global epicentre of terrorism. “Pakistan is the global epicentre of terrorism and continues to be the source of terrorist activities, including in India. Pakistan continues to make no investment in human development but provides their resources for creating and sustaining infrastructure of terrorism,” Lekhi said.
Diplomats see Lekhi’s blatant and fiery attack on Pakistan over terrorism as part of India’s larger strategy to send out a message to the global community ahead of the upcoming FATF session where Islamabad will seek its removal from the grey list. Significantly, Lekhi also called on Islamabad to immediately end cross-border terrorism. Sources said that India has intensified its efforts to draw attention of the FATF and other countries to Pakistan’s continuous backing to the terror activities against India from across the border. “Why should FATF not take this fact into account also?” asks a diplomat. That Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI provides assistance to the terror groups is no secret, sources said. Recently, India has shared evidence with the US, the UK and other key nations that establish Pakistan’s army links with the terrorists who were either eliminated or caught alive in Jammu and Kashmir, sources added. “New Delhi wants all these inputs to be taken into account by the FATF. These facts expose Pakistan’s false claims”, sources said.