Pakistan deserved to be demoted to anti-terror funding 'Grey List': India
NEW DELHI: India welcomed a global terror financing watchdog demoting Pakistan to a 'grey list' for underperforming in rooting out sources of finance for terrorists within its borders and for not taking enough — or any at all — action in curbing activities of terror elements who roam freely within its provinces. The watchdog, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Wednesday greylisted Pakistan — an international pariah — for its support to terror.
Pakistan avoided the far graver 'black list' by agreeing to comply with a 26-point action plan formulated by the International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) of the Asia Pacific Group. "India welcomes the decision of the Financial Action Task Force to place Pakistan in its Compliance Document (grey list) for ICRG monitoring," said India's Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar while answering a question.
He also said that Pakistan has given a high level political commitment to address the global concerns regarding its implementation of FATF standards for countering terror financing and anti-money laundering, especially in respect of UN designated and internationally proscribed terror entities and indiduals.
The MEA spokesperson also listed the names of terrorists such as Hafiz Saed and entities like the Jammat-ud-dwa, LeT, Jaish–e-Muhammad who continue to operate in Pakistan, not in keeping with such commitments. He also added that India hopes that the FATF Action plan will be complied within a tome frame and credible measures would be taken by Pakistan to address global concerns related to terrorism emnating from any territory under its control.
The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system. And to avoid FATF's black list, Pakistan has to, by January, publish updated lists of persons and entities proscribed under the Anti-Terrorism Act and UN-designated entities.
The ICRG's compliance list — which Pakistan has agreed to work with — envisages a 26-point plan to root out and erase all sources of financing to terror groups operating within its borders, including the India-focussed Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and any other entities associated with these two parent groups' head, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD).
JuD is led by Hafiz Saeed, who masterminded the 26/11 terror attacks in Mumbai in 2008. Also to be its targets are Daesh, the Haqqani network, the Pakistani Taliban and al Qaida.
Saeed, who has a US bounty on his head and is designated a terrorist by the UN, and others of his ilk roam freely in Pakistan, hold rallies to incite hate — against India and the US and whomever they don't like — and collect large amounts of unmonitored money for their terror activities.
Pakistan is the ninth country to be placed on the Paris-based FATF's grey list, the other eight being Ethiopia, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia and Yemen.
