ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi today (Friday) has asserted that India’s plans to push Pakistan into the blacklist of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will fail.
The statement came while talking to journalists in Islamabad, hours before the FATF is expected to announce whether Pakistan will remain on its ‘grey list’ or not. The FATF will review Pakistan’s progress on the 27-point action plan for addressing anti-money laundering and terror financing.
“I can say this with confidence, India will fail in its designs to push Pakistan into the blacklist, because of the concrete steps the country has taken to meet the requirements of the global watchdog,” FM Qureshi added.
The foreign minister further said that the world had acknowledged the steps taken by the incumbent government including legislative and administrative measures to check terror financing and money laundering.
Referring to the 27 points on which the FATF had asked Pakistan to take action, FM Qureshi said, “I can say with conviction we have implemented 21,” adding that progress had also been made on the remaining six points.
“Considering all this progress, the FATF forum should view Pakistan’s measures positively and create room for Pakistan,” he added. Pakistan has been on the FATF’s grey list since June 2018. The grey list comprises countries being monitored by the watchdog.
The FATF plenary was earlier scheduled in June but Islamabad got an unexpected breather after the global watchdog postponed all mutual evaluations and follow-up deadlines in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Commenting on the Kashmir dispute, he said that Pakistan has never accepted New Delhi’s illegal and unilateral actions of 5th August last year in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
