FATF gives Pakistan a breather, escapes getting blacklisted

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) today decided to keep Pakistan on its grey list at the end of its week-long plenary meeting in Paris. India had lobbied hard to get the global financial body to blacklist Pakistan for non-compliance in curbing terror financing.

India wanted Pakistan to be put under "closer scrutiny immediately" and has demanded that "stronger implementation" be sought from Islamabad in curbing terror financing, News18 reported. India had even prepared a dossier for the watchdog nailing the culpability of Pakistan in the Pulwama terror strike, the worst such attack in J&K in decades.

The February 14 attack that left over 40 CRPF personnel dead was carried out by Pakistan-based outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). "This will be a dossier on Pakistani agencies' links with the JeM and how the terror group is being aided by them. The details of the terror attacks carried out by the JeM in the past will be mentioned in the document," a security official previously told PTI. The dossier will reportedly also highlight how the Pakistani agencies are providing funds to the JeM.

Incidentally, in June 2018, Pakistan was put on the FATF grey list for failing to curb terror financing, courtesy a concerted bilateral effort by India with the US, UK, France and Germany all through 2017. Islamabad had reportedly been given a 27-point action plan to implement by September 2019, failing which it would be put on the FATF black list alongside North Korea and Iran post the October 2019 FAFT meeting. Pakistan had reportedly landed on the black list between 2012 and 2015.

(Edited by Sushmita Choudhury Agarwal)

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