The Indian authorities are planning to apprise the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of the latest evidence related to the terror bases in Pakistan that were destroyed by the defence forces during the precision attacks as part of Operation Sindoor. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Indian authorities are planning to apprise the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of the latest evidence related to the terror bases in Pakistan that were destroyed by the defence forces during the precision attacks as part of Operation Sindoor, in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

“Although the decision making in the FATF is based on technical compliance of its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) recommendations, which is evaluated through the measures taken by the country concerned and on-ground verification, the gruesome killings in Pahalgam have necessitated the sharing of information about the existing terror infrastructure in Pakistan with the international watchdog,” said a government official.

In the coming days, the official said, India is expected to highlight, at all the international forums, the latest evidence about the patronage being given by the Pakistani State machinery to banned terrorist organisations.

The FATF Plenary had removed Pakistan from the Grey List in October 2022, albeit with the reminder that Pakistan will continue to work with the Asia Pacific Group (APG) to further improve its AML/CFT system.

The last time the FATF had placed Pakistan on its Grey List was in June 2018. It found several strategic deficiencies with respect to the AML and CFT recommendations. Pakistan was told to implement the action plan, which included demonstration of effective action against United Nations-designated terror outfits, individuals and their associates in terms of financial sanctions, asset seizures, investigation, prosecution, and convictions.

However, owing to its failure to implement all the action points fully, Pakistan was again retained on the Grey List on October 21, 2021. The FATF Plenary noted that it had completed 26 of the 27 action items in its 2018 plan. The one remaining issue was about continuing to demonstrate that the terror financing investigations and prosecutions targeted senior functionaries and commanders of UN-designated terror outfits.

Earlier, in response to the additional deficiencies flagged in Pakistan’s 2019 APG Mutual Evaluation Report in June 2021, it had given further commitment to address them. Pakistan was put on the Grey List for the first time in 2008, then removed in 2009, and again it was brought under increased monitoring from 2012 to 2015. Greylisting by the FATF is said to limit a country’s access to international loans.