MULTAN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi questioned the decision of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to keep the country on its ‘increased monitoring list’ until the implementation of two separate action plans to counter terrorist financing and money laundering.
Addressing a press conference in Multan today (Sunday), the Foreign Minister pointed out that the FATF had acknowledged the country’s efforts to strengthen its financial system, adding that the last remaining agenda item on a 27-point action plan devised in June 2018 was also being addressed and Pakistan would continue to do more to fix it.
“I think in this situation, there is no justification to keep Pakistan on the grey list,” Qureshi said, adding “We will have to see if the FATF is a technical forum or being used for political purposes.”
FM Qureshi also claimed that India tried to politicize the money laundering watchdog for political gains to keep Pakistan on the grey list. “The world has yet to decide whether the FATF is a technical or a political forum,” he added.
“If the global watchdog is a technical forum then Pakistan should be in the white list instead of grey list,” the foreign minister claimed, adding that some forces want the sword of FATF hanging on Pakistan. He hoped that soon Pakistan would be in the white list as the entire action plan of FATF has been implemented.
Talking about Afghanistan, the Foreign Minister expressed fear that a civil strife could be started after the withdrawal of foreign forces which will lead to destabilization in the region. “Pakistan wants a peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan which will bring stability in the entire region,” he added.
Pakistan to remain on FATF grey list
Earlier on Friday, the FATF announced that Pakistan will continue to remain on the watchdog’s “increased monitoring list”, also known as the grey list, till it addresses the single remaining item on the original action plan agreed to in June 2018.
Announcing the decision in a virtual press conference after the financial watchdog’s five-day plenary meeting, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer said, “Pakistan has made significant progress and it has largely addressed 26 out of 27 items on the action plan it first committed to in June 2018.”
Pleyer, however, added that the item on financial terrorism still needed to be addressed which concerned the “investigation and prosecution of senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terror groups”.
