Pakistan dismisses Indian defence minister's comments on FATF proceedings

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – Pakistan has rejected the recent comments made by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, claiming that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) can anytime blacklist Pakistan. According to a press release issued by the Foreign Ministry, the statement reinforces Pakistan's concerns, repeatedly highlighted to the FATF membership, about India’s attempts to politicize the FATF proceedings to further its narrow and partisan objectives. It added that India’s incessant smear against Pakistan and blatant partisanship also call into question its credentials to be co-chair of the Asia-Pacific Joint Group that reviews Pakistan’s progress to implement the FATF Action Plan. “Our concerns in this regard have been previously brought to the attention of FATF members,” it stated. The statement said: “We hope that the broader FATF membership would take cognizance of India’s continuing malicious campaign against Pakistan and reject any attempt aimed at politicizing the FATF proceedings. It is important for FATF to ensure that the process remains fair and unbiased.” On September 9, Pakistan’s 15-member economic team led by Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar had answered 125 questions on the first day of the session of Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Asia Pacific Group (APG) in Bangkok. The session also discussed the final evaluation of anti-money laundering, countering the terrorism financing report and the new National Risk Assessment. The Asia-Pacific Group will analyze Pakistan’s targets and implementations over its overall recommendations. Pakistan will argue its case and present its final defence. It was reported that the outcome of the talks would decide whether Pakistan’s name stayed on the grey list or would it be added to the black list. Led by Hammad Azhar, the committee comprised representatives of all the institutions concerned with money laundering and terror financing including the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), SECP, Director General Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU). The next FATF session will be held in Paris by the end of this month.