It’s important to realise how the world views Pakistan

• Admiring ourselves before a flattering mirror won’t do

The smugness characterising Miftah Ismail’s statement on the effects of Pakistan being put on FATF’s grey indicates that those who matter continue to live in a make-believe world of their own. Unless they have a reality check the country is likely to go through more shocks of the sort. The claim made earlier by the ISPR spokesman that the US needs Pakistan more than Pakistan needs the US might turn out to be wishful thinking.

Let us confront the reality squarely. Pakistan is required by the FATF to submit an action plan to block terror financing in May. If the FATF approves the action plan in June, it would place Pakistan on the grey list. In case the plan fails to satisfy it, the FATF can place Pakistan on its blacklist along with North Korea and Iran. The FO might then continue to insist that Pakistan has already taken steps to remove the deficiencies in terror financing and the action taken by the FATF is political victimisation. Protestations and impotent rage will not however be able to undo the harm that would have been done.

Keeping in view the cluelessness displayed by the government over running the charities founded by Hafiz Saeed, it appears that it will have to work over night to be able to track and take control of all their sources of income and funding. Minister of state for finance says he has not yet received a list of actions the FATF wants the country to implement. This indicates that the ministry has done no homework. What complicates the problem further is the sad state of the agencies supposed to deal with terror financing. Can Nacta, which itself needs capacity-building, keep a check on terror financing, let alone take steps for capacity-building of the FIA to effectively combat cyber terrorism and crime, as required by a Senate committee? Reliance on China to continue to cover up our shortcomings would be unrealistic. What is needed is that those who matter get rid of their narcissism and take note of how the world views them.