The Asia Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering has, during its recently concluded meeting in Sri Lanka, decided to submit a report on Pakistan, particularly focussed on allegations of terror funding, to the inter-governmental body, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
In June, the International Cooperation Review Group of the FATF had recommended that a report should either by provided by the APG, or it would seek the report from Pakistan, on action taken by the country against a United Nations Security Council resolution.
FATF sets standards and promotes effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terror financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
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India’s concerns
At the meeting that concluded last week, Pakistan sought to impress upon the member-countries that it had been taking strong measures to check terror funding.
It is learnt that China, apart from Fiji, extended support to Pakistan on various issues. India highlighted its concerns related to terror financing.
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The APG comprises 41 member-countries, including Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Singapore, the Maldives, the U.S., Australia, Canada, China and Pakistan.
Incidentally, the APG meeting was under way when the U.S. State Department released its “Country Report on Terrorism 2016”, identifying Pakistan as one of the “terrorist safe havens.”
The report observed that Pakistan had not taken effective measures against terror outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, that continued to “operate, train, organise and fund-raise” in that country.
It listed several terror outfits, including the Haqqani Network, and terrorists like Hafiz Saeed, operating with impunity from the Pakistani soil.