Pakistan has not acted against terrorists and front organizations for terrorist groups.
New Delhi:
Pakistan will remain on the “gray list” of the global terrorist financing watchdog until February next year, the body decided on Friday, as the country failed to qualify for unhindered access to international funds.
Indian government sources had told GalacticGaming earlier that it expects Pakistan to remain on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) gray list as the country has clearly not acted against organizations that act. as fronts for terrorist groups and some of the world‘s most wanted terrorists. like Maulana Masood Azhar and Hafiz Saeed.
Pakistan also failed to effectively crack down on the means of financing terrorist activities and money laundering and four candidate countries, the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany, were not fully satisfied with his role in Afghanistan, sources said.
With Pakistan remaining on the gray list, it has become increasingly difficult for it to obtain financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Union, compounding the problems for the cash-strapped country. .
The decision was made at the end of the three-day virtual FATF plenary that was previously scheduled for June. Pakistan took an unexpected hiatus after the global financial crime watchdog temporarily postponed all assessments and follow-up timelines in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The watchdog also put a general hiatus in the review process, giving Pakistan four more months to meet the requirements.
To avoid the blacklist, Pakistan needs the support of three countries and it has always been supported by China, Turkey and Malaysia to dodge the label. Currently, North Korea and Iran are on the FATF blacklist. Pakistan needs 12 votes out of 39 to get off the gray list and go to the white list.
Pakistan was graylisted by the FATF in June 2018 and received an action plan to complete it by October 2019. Since then, the country continues to be on this list due to its non- respect for FATF mandates.
The FATF is an intergovernmental body created in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
The FATF currently has 39 members, including two regional organizations – the European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
India is a member of the FATF consultations and its Asia-Pacific group.
