Our Correspondent
Multan
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Sunday that India’s conspiracies to place Pakistan on the Financial Action Task Force’s blacklist failed.
The minister made the comments while speaking to the media during a motorcycle tour of his constituency in Multan. “India has faced humiliation in the FATF meeting,” he said. “Hopefully, Pakistan will be out of the grey list soon.”
Qureshi said Pakistan’s stance was appreciated by all members except India at the FATF plenary meeting last week. The FATF decided to not blacklist the country, giving it more time to complete the 27-point action plan as a vast majority of the members recognised Islamabad’s “enormous efforts to improve its counter-terrorism financing regime”.
Pakistan’s status was retained on FATF’s Compliance Document, normally referred to as the “grey list”, for four more months, setting June 2020 as the new deadline for delivering on the remaining points related to terror financing risk management.
The FATF decision came as a huge disappointment for India, which has consistently lobbied for ‘blacklisting’ Pakistan by the global financial watchdog. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang was specifically asked about the Indian media reports which said Beijing was shifting its stance at FATF.
“China’s position on the relevant issue remains unchanged,” the spokesperson told the reporter categorically. “It was decided at the meeting that Pakistan will be allowed more time to continue implementing its action plan.” Qureshi termed the US-Taliban peace deal a triumph for Pakistan’s efforts. “The agreement would bring peace in whole the region,” said the foreign minister as he vowed that Islamabad would continue to play an important role in uplift of Afghanistan. The minister reflected that after years of doubt, the world was now acknowledging Pakistan’s role in bringing peace and stability in the war-torn country. “Due to certain issues in Afghanistan, Pakistan has focused on its western border, however the situation on eastern border is also a bit sensitive.”
