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Terror financing watch list: Pakistan gets 90-day reprieve from FATF grey list | The Indian Express

Terror financing watch list: Pakistan gets 90-day reprieve from FATF grey list | The Indian Express

Terror financing watch list: Pakistan gets 90-day reprieve from FATF grey list

The proposal to ‘grey list’ Pakistan was co-sponsored by the US, UK, France and Germany in the 37-member body.

Written by Sushant Singh | New Delhi | Published: February 22, 2018 12:50 am
Paris terror meet, pakistan, US, terrorist financing watch-list, APG, Financial Action Task Force, terrorism, jihadi funding, terror funding
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif.

Pakistan got a temporary reprieve at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting in Paris after a US-led proposal to place it on the ‘grey list’ of countries that finance terrorism was not moved for voting on Wednesday. It was instead decided to ask the Asia Pacific Group (APG), which monitors Pakistan, to submit another report in 90 days about the action taken against terror financing in the country.
As reported by The Indian Express on February 13, the proposal to ‘grey list’ Pakistan was co-sponsored by the US, UK, France and Germany in the 37-member body. Based on the past record at FATF meetings, China was believed to be opposed to the proposal which would have worsened Pakistan’s economic woes.
But during the FATF meetings at Paris from Sunday to Tuesday, Russia and Turkey are also believed to have supported China in opposing the proposal. As votes of three members are needed to defeat FATF proposals which are approved unanimously, the US-led group did not move the motion for voting on the first day of the FATF plenary meet on Wednesday.
If Pakistan would have been placed on the ‘grey list’, the cost of doing business in the country would have increased manifold, besides drying up the foreign investment. It would have worsened the country’s macroeconomic position which is already under pressure due to a widening trade deficit and falling foreign exchange reserves.
Pakistan had earlier been on the FATF ‘grey list’ from 2012 to 2015, following a detailed assessment by APG in 2010 and lack of follow-up action by Islamabad to curb terror financing.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif tweeted on Tuesday, “Our efforts paid, FATF Paris 20 Feb meeting conclusion on the US-led motion to put Pakistan on watch list.. No consensus for nominating Pakistan, proposing three months pause and asking APG [Asia Pacific Group] for another report to be concluded in June”.
Asif was in Moscow when he posted on Twitter. Worried about the FATF meeting, Islamabad had indulged in heavy diplomatic lobbying this month, sending ministers and senior officials to various foreign capitals. Sources said that the aggressive diplomatic stance by Pakistan to prevent the ‘grey listing’ had not gone down well with the member countries of the FATF — most were in favour of going ahead with the proposal. The FATF considers itself to be a technical body shielded from politics, and its process is protected.
To bolster its case, the Pakistan government had promulgated the ordinance that allowed the government to outlaw all organisations that are declared terrorists under UN Security Council resolutions. This had led to some action, including the government notification to to freeze and take over the assets of Hafiz Saeed’s Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its related charity, Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FiF).
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