The US has stated that Pakistan has made “significant progress” on its first action plan, with 26 of 27 action items “largely addressed,” only days after India confessed to playing a detrimental influence in maintaining Pakistan on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list.
During a regular press briefing Monday, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said “we do recognize, and we support Pakistan’s continued efforts to satisfy those obligations.”
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi made a remark in response to Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s admission that Pakistan is on the FATF grey list due to “efforts of Narendra Modi’s government.”
The US urges Pakistan to continue cooperating with the FATF and the international community to fulfil the final action item by showing that terrorism financing, investigations, and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated organisations, according to Price.
“We do further encourage Pakistan to expeditiously implement its new second action plan.”
After Kabul withdrew its top diplomats from Islamabad, the State Department was also requested to comment on the reported kidnapping of the daughter of Afghanistan’s envoy to Pakistan.
Afghanistan issue
The State Department was also asked to speak on the issue of the alleged abduction of the daughter of Afghanistan’s envoy to Pakistan after Kabul recalled its senior diplomats from Islamabad.
“Afghanistan’s neighbours do have a role to play. I would add that tangible and material support for the Afghanistan peace process is vital for its ultimate success, as are the longer-term relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said.
He added that the US certainly do hope to see Afghanistan’s neighbours play a constructive, responsible role in bringing about a just and durable solution here. “We understand the crucial role that Pakistan has the potential to play in this regard as well.”
Peace talks
He also urged the Afghan groups to continue talking to achieve peace through talks. The official mentioned that the Afghan government and the Taliban have issued a joint statement and declared to accelerate negotiations towards an inclusive political settlement.
“We certainly welcome that statement. We hope to see follow-through, because we – as we have said, continue to believe that only a negotiated settlement can bring an end to 40 years of conflict that the Afghan people have endured, and we urge the Taliban to uphold the commitment in the joint declaration – the declaration that I just mentioned – to protect Afghanistan’s infrastructure, to protect civilians, and to cooperate on humanitarian assistance. We are certainly pleased to see those pledges in this declaration, and now we are looking to see the follow-through.”
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