New Delhi: India on Thursday said that Pakistan should be put on the blacklist of countries who are not cooperating in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters here that Pakistan was already on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). A meeting of FATF plenary will be held in June.
“The facts that are there with India… we will keep those. There is very strict scrutiny in these bodies and we will want that consequences of downgrading in FATF list, that should apply to them (Pakistan),” he said, a day after the UN blacklisted Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar on India’s persistent demand.
China lifted its “technical hold” on his listing after blocking such attempts in the past.
JeM had claimed responsibility for the Pulwama terror attack.
Jaitley said that the core issue is that Azhar has been declared an international terrorist and he and his country now face the consequences of that.
External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told a media briefing that Pakistan will be obligated to take action as per FATF procedures.
Asked about the impact of the designation of Azhar as international terrorist on Pakistan’s FATF listing, he said that at the last FATF Plenary in February 2019, it was decided to continue keeping Pakistan in the Grey List for International Cooperation Review Group Monitoring.
“If you go through the press statement by FATF, one of the action plans specifically mentions that Pakistan has to demonstrate effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions (supported by a comprehensive legal obligation) against all 1267 and 1373 designated terrorists and those acting for or on their behalf,” he said.
The spokesman said that this includes preventing raising and moving of funds, identifying and freezing assets (movable and immovable), and prohibiting access to funds and financial services.
“At the next FATF Plenary in June next month, Pakistan will be obligated to take action as per FATF procedures,” he said.
[source_without_link]IANS[/source_without_link]