On Thursday, bad news has come for Pakistan from Paris, the capital of France. After the meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which lasted for three days here, it has been decided that Pakistan will be kept on the grey list till April 2022. Pakistan was included in this list for the first time in June 2018. Since then he has tried to come off the list several times and but failed each time.
Pakistan was placed on this list for failing to prevent financial aid and money laundering to terrorist organizations. The FATF had given a 27-point action plan to Pakistan. By October 2019, Pakistan had to act on it. Later 6 more marks were added to this scheme. Pakistan always fails on 4 points. However, the points on which Pakistan has not been able to take any action include investigation and action against the leaders of terrorist organizations declared by the United Nations.
The names of Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar are prominently included in this. Hafiz Saeed is the mastermind of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai in the year 2008, then Masood Azhar in Pathankot in 2016, and then in Pulwama in 2019.
The decision to keep Pakistan on the grey list of FATF has not been taken on any political basis but on technical grounds. However in such a situation, now it is in trouble for Pakistan. In June 2021, the FATF decided to keep Pakistan on the gray list. At that time Pakistan had said that it would implement all the points within 3 to 4 months.
Recently there has been a report of the US on terrorism. This report has been released with the title 'Terrorist and Other Militant Groups in Pakistan'. This report clearly states that there are at least 12 such terrorist organizations that have been identified by the US as foreign organizations and all of them are present in Pakistan. Of these, there are 5 such whose purpose is to target India. According to the US administration, Pakistan has always been a safe haven for terrorist organizations.
The country's difficulties will increase manifold if Pakistan is included in the grey list. Pakistan is already facing difficulties in getting financial help from International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and European Union. Now his stay in the gray list will be like adding fuel to the fire. It is a matter of relief for Pakistan that due to Turkey, Malaysia and China, it has been avoiding being blacklisted.
