In the recent virtual meeting of the Financial Action Task Force(FATF) held in Paris, Pakistan has been restamped on the ‘Grey list’ till February 2021. In a statement released on Friday evening, the FATF reported that Pakistan’s government had failed to meet its ‘27-point Agenda’ against terrorism. The FATF also said that Pakistan has not taken any concrete action against the banned UN terrorists.
Turkey’s efforts gone in vain
In the FATF plenary, Turkey was seen advocating openly to defend Pakistan. Turkey told the member states that we should consider the good work of Pakistan and wait a little longer to meet the six criteria in 27 point Agenda. However, the rest of the FATF countries rejected Turkey’s proposal. A few days ago, Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, sought assistance from Turkey, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
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Countries against Pakistan
Countries like USA, UK, France and Germany are not satisfied with Pakistan’s commitment to take strict action against terrorist organizations operating in Pakistan. The FATF gave Pakistan the responsibility to complete a total of 27 action plans to completely stop the financing of terrorism, of which it has just completed 21 and has not completed some.
Repercussions on Pakistan
If Pakistan remains in the Grey list even in this meeting of the FATF, then its economic situation is bound to get worse. Pakistan will also find it difficult to get financial support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the European Union. Pakistan may also find it difficult to get financial help from other countries too. Because no country wants to invest in an economically unstable country.
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Pakistan remains in Grey List since 2018
Pakistan was listed in Grey list in June 2018. The review meetings of FATF in October 2018 and February 2019 also did not bring relief to Pakistan. Pakistan has failed to act on the recommendations of the FATF. During this time, terrorist organizations in Pakistan have received financial support from abroad and domestically.
Blacklist of FATF
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If included in the blacklist by the FATF, Pakistan would be placed in the same category as Iran and North Korea, which implies that it would not be able to get any loans from international financial institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank. It will also face problems in doing financial deals with other countries.