New Delhi shares evidence with Washington, exposing Islamabad’s continued support to terror outfits operating from its territory.
With the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gearing up to assess Pakistan’s action, if at all any, against terror groups next month, India has given fillip to its campaign to expose that Islamabad continues to shelter, support and finance terrorist organisations which are enjoying safe haven on territories under its control.
Highly-placed sources told The Daily Guardian that the top Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) officials have shared evidence with the global community and Paris-based terror watchdog FATF in this regard, seeking to highlight that Pakistan is involved in sponsoring terrorism at a time when the world is adopting zero tolerance policy towards this menace.
“The dossiers so shared with the US, European countries and FATF contain clinching evidence that prove that Pakistan has done nothing on counter-terrorism front. India is making a solid case to ensure Pakistan is not dropped from the grey list by the FATF in view of the same,” officials told the newspaper.
Last weekend, MEA and MHA officials held a detailed discussion with US Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes Elizabeth Rozenberg. Sources said that India and US officials elaborately discussed the upcoming plenary session of the FATF in June. Sources said that Pakistan’s approach to terrorism figured during the discussion, with Indian diplomats apprising the US official that the new regime in Pakistan under Shehbaz Sharif is leaving a lot to be desired in terms of tackling terrorism.
Several examples and evi
dence were shared with the visiting official of the Biden administration that established the points made by the Indian side, sources told The Daily Guardian. “Let alone action against terror outfits, Pakistan’s state actors, namely army and ISI continued to support them,” officials told the visiting US official.
Recently, arms and ammunition recovered from the Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists who were killed in Kashmir establish their Pakistan links. It clearly proves that the terror factory is working freely in Pakistan.
“There have hardly been any substantial efforts on the part of Pakistan to prosecute leaders of UN-designated terror groups in order to counter terror financing. This is one of the conditions on the basis of which Islamabad’s grey listing has to be reviewed,” sources said. Sources said that the Biden administration is convinced that Pakistan has yet to do a lot to satisfy the FATF.
“What India wants that Pakistan should now be placed on blacklist instead of grey list, given its support to terror outfits,” a diplomat says.
The Indian officials underlined the need for the US and other countries of the world community to step up pressure on Pakistan to act against terrorists. MEA officials, according to sources, suggested to the US official that Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto should have been given a strong message on terrorism. Bhutto tried to impress upon the international audience recently that the newly-appointed Shehbaz Sharif government will walk the talk on terrorism.
“This is another non-serious statement of Bhutto, as no action is going to be there against terrorism,” the US was told through diplomatic channels. At the same time, Bhutto, who is a foreign minister of Pakistan, wrote to the UN seeking release of Yasin Malik, the person who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a terror funding case.