Not Just Masood Azhar: India To Seek Pakistan’s Blacklisting At FATF Meeting In Mid-May, Says Jaitley

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley today (2 April) said that India would ask global anti-terror body FATF to downgrade Pakistan at its upcoming meeting in May, reports Reuters.

"There is a meeting of FATF in mid-May. We would want that the FATF for Pakistan should be downgraded,” said the minister.

This comment by Jaitley comes only a day after Jaish-e-Mohammed chief and notorious terrorist Masood Azhar was finally put on United Nation’s (UN) sanctions list as a designated terrorist.

At its 22 February meeting, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had retained Pakistan under the Greylist for the time being despite international pressure.

It gave the country time till October (2019) to end terror financing, or it could risk being blacklisted.

In 2018, to avoid the fate Pakistan had presented a 26-point action plan covering the next 15 months to the FATF committee in which it agreed to address stated deficiencies in structures, especially those involving terror financing.

However, India has repeatedly argued that despite its rhetoric, Pakistan was not making serious efforts to put an end to terrorism emanating from its soil.

What Happens In The Blacklist

Being blacklisted by FATF shows that Pakistan is not cooperating with the fight against terror funding. Such a negative opinion about the state of the country could lead to a downgrading of the country by agencies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Union (EU).

Also Read: Pakistan’s Grey Listing By FATF: Much More Than Meets The Eye