Keeping Pak in FATF grey list
IN its meeting concluded on 22 October 2021 the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has once again decided to keep Pakistan in the grey list.
While announcing the decision, President of FATF, Dr Marcus Pleyer said that “Pakistan had to complete two concurrent action plans with a total of 34 items out of which it has addressed or largely addressed 30 items.” He lauded Pakistan for making good progress yet asked it to do more.
As per new action plan, Pakistan has addressed four out of the seven items, highlighted in the previous session of FATF, held in June 2021.
This is very unfortunate, rather a discriminatory act of FATF that it is making deliberate efforts to keep Pakistan in its Grey List despite, it completed and strictly acted upon all its action plans in last three years.
In its previous plenary session of June 2021, FATF placed Pakistan in its increased monitoring, which amounted to charge-sheeting Pakistan. Moreover, in previous session FATF gave another list to Pakistan for implementing six more points.
This list was in addition to the earlier one which included twenty-seven points. Upon completing 26 points out of 27 points in June 2021, the new list was added; two concurrent lists.
Indeed, through process, FATF is trying to restrict the financial space for Pakistan under the cover of Terror Financing (TF). This was amply clear from its warnings to Pakistan in its February and June 2020 sessions.
During these sessions, FATF warned Pakistan that, “[if] significant and sustainable progress especially in prosecuting and penalising TF (terror financing) not made by the next plenary, the FATF will take action” against Pakistan.
The new list of six points is all about the terror financing, a never ending phenomenon. Indeed, Pakistan is victim of terrorism and terrorism in Pakistan is funded by some of the key states for their vested interests.
These states are simultaneously involved in two activities; financing terror in Pakistan and influence the FATF for organizational coercion against Pakistan.
It is to be noted that, Pakistan was placed in the grey list of FATF once India initiated a move against Pakistan which was reinforced by United States and Great Britain in June 2018.
It was a well-orchestrated planning against Pakistan for coercing it for not submitting to the demands put-forward by Washington and New Delhi.
These funny justifications of the planners while forcing FATF to place Pakistan in the grey list included that, there were ‘strategic deficiencies’ in its AML and CFT regimes.
The unholy nexus of Washington and New Delhi later included Britain, some EU countries and so-called friends of Pakistan from Muslim states of Middle East to support this biased decision of FATF.
Initially starting from few demands, this exploiting inter-governmental structure (FATF) put forth 27-points for implementation in one year.
The list is increased to 34 points now. Analysing these points and the action plan of FATF, one gets the impression that; it is totally discriminatory in nature and coercive in its objectivity. Despite that, Pakistan made all-out efforts to implement these actions in last three years.
While implementation this action plan, the Government had to take some decisions which were quite unpopular and infuriated its masses, yet FATF found shortcomings in these clearly implemented actions and it demanded to do more.
With respect to terror financing, US and EU must know that, Pakistani military and the nation as a whole has given unprecedented sacrifices in the process of defeating the terrorism which has been and is being funding from abovementioned states. No country can match the achievements of Pakistan in the field of combating the terrorism.
Through dozens of military operations and country-wide intelligence operations, Pakistani armed forces defeated the terrorist out-fits and their abettors and financers.
The TTP and many other terrorist outfits in Pakistan were trained, financed and abated by a spying networks of India and former Afghan Government (RAW and NDS) with support of former occupiers.
All terrorism in Pakistan was sponsored from Afghan soil through these and many other spying networks.
Pakistan physically defeated the terrorism, blocked the financial chain of terrorists and brought peace in the region and still being blamed for the ‘strategic deficiencies’ in its AML and CFT) regimes; indeed, it is the joke of century.
The October 2021 demand of FATF to ‘do more’ is yet another indication that, it is not the 27points or 34 -points action plan; rather it is a demand for the total submission of Pakistan to what it is desired by Washington and New Delhi.
Indeed, the revised FATF action plan is a US agenda driven coercion plan which aims at fulfilment of three demands; provision of military bases / air space for military action against Afghanistan, decreasing linkages with China and Russia for stabilizing Afghanistan and abandoning the CPEC project through a phased programme.
Alongside FATF, Pakistan is being pressurized by IMF for the fulfilment of its own agenda; the financial exploitation of Pakistan.
This agenda is all about economically ruining Pakistan for creating a domestic chaos and external debt-trap.
Both these agendas are working side by side; supplementing and augmenting each other to economically devastate Pakistan until it totally submit to western demands.
Pakistan cannot fulfil the endless list of FATF nor can it afford accepting the exploitative list of IMF.
Indeed, the financial team of Pakistan negotiating with FATF and IMF must be gauged from two key aspects; one, the efficiency of the financial team and two, the allegiance and inspirations, it draws from international institutions.
Besides, the concern ministers, MPs, the government machinery and the bureaucratic lot of Pakistan must perform their responsibilities with utmost devotions and dedication.
Other than government, the financial think-tanks, academics and economic experts at large must play their part for an honourable exit of Pakistan from exploitative strategies of FATF and IMF.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.