India hails FATF move to put Pakistan on ‘grey list’ for failing to check terror funding

Hopes that Islamabad will take credible measures to address international concerns on terrorism emanating from that country.

June 30, 2018 11:45 am | Updated December 01, 2021 05:57 am IST - NEW DELHI:

A case in point is Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, who has a free run in Pakistan addressing rallies wherein he spews venom against India. (FILE)

A case in point is Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed, who has a free run in Pakistan addressing rallies wherein he spews venom against India. (FILE)

India on Saturday welcomed the step by an international organisation that placed Pakistan on a special list of countries that are kept under watch in a move to counter international terror financing.

In a statement, the External Affairs Ministry welcomed the grey-listing of Pakistan by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and expressed hope that Pakistan would prevent terror acts emanating from its territory.

“We hope that the FATF action plan shall be complied with in a time-bound manner and credible measures would be taken by Pakistan to address global concerns related to terrorism emanating from any territory under its control,” said the Ministry spokesperson in a statement after Islamabad was placed on the grey list of the FATF on Friday.

Being on the grey list will require Pakistan to meet additional guarantees while borrowing finance from international donors such as the International Monetary Fund.

Pakistan had been on the grey list between 2012 and 2015 but was taken off the list. But subsequent terror attacks on Indian targets by groups such as the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), headed by Hafiz Saeed, and Jaish-e-Mohammed, led by Masood Azhar, revived the international demand to place the country back on the list.

Reminding Pakistan’s commitments to prevent further terror attacks, India urged Islamabad to control the armed terror groups operating from its soil.

“Pakistan has given a high-level political commitment to address the global concerns regarding its implementation of the FATF standards for countering terror financing and anti-money laundering, especially in respect of UN-designated and internationally proscribed terror entities and individuals. The freedom and impunity with which the designated terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and entities like Jamaat-ud-Dawaa, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed continue to operate in Pakistan is not in keeping with such commitments,” said the Ministry spokesperson.

The decision to place Pakistan back in the Grey List was taken following the Plenary session of FATF in February, but it finally came into force on Friday. Pakistan had activated diplomatic channels to prevent the listing but Islamabad could not prevent the latest move by the FATF.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.