India made sure Pakistan stays on FATF grey list: Indian foreign minister

Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday admitted that Pakistan is on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) because of the "efforts of Narendra Modi's government," Geo News reported.

According to a report published by The Print, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar credited the Modi-led government for its "efforts" to ensure that FATF kept Pakistan on the grey list. 

The minister issued the statement while addressing BJP leaders’ training programme on the foreign policy of the government via video link, the outlet said. 

“FATF as all of you know keep a check on fundings for terrorism and deals with black money supporting terrorism. Due to us, Pakistan is under the lens of FATF and it was kept [on] the grey list. We have been successful in pressurising Pakistan and the fact that Pakistan’s behaviour has changed is because of pressure put by India by various measures. Also terrorists from LeT and Jaish, India’s efforts through UN, have come under sanctions,” Jaishankar reportedly told the leaders, according to The Print.

It should be recalled that on June 25, the FATF had said that it recognises Pakistan's progress and efforts to address items in its country action plan that pertain to combating the financing of terrorism and has encouraged it to continue progress and address as soon as possible "the one remaining CFT-related item".

It had also handed the government six new anti-money laundering areas to work on.

Addressing a press conference after the June 21-25 plenary meeting concluded in Paris, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer had said that Pakistan remains under "increased monitoring".

"The Pakistani government has made substantial progress in making its counter-terrorist financing systems stronger and more effective. It has largely addressed 26 out of 27 items on the action plan it first committed to in June 2018," he said.

Dr Pleyer had said that the plan focused on terrorist financing issues.

He had said that the one key action item still needs to be completed "which concerns the investigation and prosecution of senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terror groups".

The FATF president highlighted that Pakistan has "made improvements" after the Asia Pacific Group highlighted issues in 2019 during its assessment of Pakistan's entire anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing system.

"These include clear efforts to raise awareness in the private sector to Pakistan's money laundering risks and to develop and use financial intelligence to build a case.

"However Pakistan is still failing to effectively implement the global FATF standards across a number of areas. This means the risks of money laundering remain high which in turn can fuel corruption and organised crime."

Dr Player had said that this is why the FATF has worked with the Pakistan government on new areas that still need to be improved as part of a new action plan that largely focuses on money laundering risks.

This includes increasing the number of investigations and prosecutions and making sure law enforcement agencies cooperate internationally to trace, freeze and confiscate assets, he had said.

"This is about helping authorities stop corruption and prevent organised criminals from profiting from their crimes and undermining the financial system and legitimate economy in Pakistan," Dr Pleyer had added.