- More needs to be done to avoid the axe
Pakistan is in a particularly tough spot as the date for the FATF’s (Financial Action Task Force) meeting, where the possibility of the country’s placement on the dreaded blacklist will be under discussion, is just a week away and AGP’s (Asia Pacific Group) latest report on our progress highlights that compliance has been mostly partial. Of the forty parameters, the report maintains that Pakistan was fully compliant on one, largely compliant on nine, partially compliant on twenty-six and non-compliant on the remaining four. The report specifically mentions that Pakistan has not taken sufficient action against ’terrorist groups operating in the country such as LeT, JuD and JeM’. Considering the fact that more has been done against these groups than ever before due to pressure from the FATFand yet the action is unsatisfactory, should be cause for concern. This ‘action’ was one of the central points of PM Imran Khan’s UN speech apart from the operative Kashmir bit. Comments on the legal system and its “major technical shortcomings” are also highlighted as a deficiency that makes money laundering and terror financing easier. Pakistan has been on the FATF’s grey list for a little over a year and during this time has made considerable efforts to curb terror financing but clearly a lot more needs to be done to satisfy the FATF and time is not on our side. Perhaps all those years of actively lobbying to keep the likes of Masood Azhar off UN’s designated terror list or framing easily bailable charges against JuD chief Hafiz Saeed has culminated in the air of mistrust with which the FATF is observing Pakistan.
China presiding over the FATF may provide us with some relief but that may not be enough as there are 38 other members to win over. This includes India that is a strong proponent of Pakistan being placed on the black list and will use all its leverage to achieve this in the coming weeks. Whether or not that happens is tough to say but one thing is for certain: Pakistan has to comply fully with the recommendations of the FATF not for any other reason but for self-preservation.
