A global anti-money laundering control body has kept Pakistan on its watch list, calling on the South Asian country to control terrorist financing and praising the government for recent progress.
The Financial Action Working Group suggested pakistan complete its action plan until February after a three-day meeting. Pakistan has largely completed 21 of the 27 tasks, while progressing to varying degrees in the rest of the plan, the Paris-based control body said in a statement. By the last review in February, Pakistan had largely completed 14 tasks.
The resolve to keep Pakistan on its so-called gray watch list means that pakistan will avoid being blacklisted with North Korea and Iran, and will avoid severe sanctions on its banking system, which is already affected by the effect of the coronavirus. The International Monetary Fund had warned that a downha review could freeze capital inflows and jeopardize its $6 billion program.
“As long as we see a country progressing in its actions, and we have noticed progress with Pakistan, we are giving them the opportunity to solve the important problems,” Marcus Pleyer, president of the FATA, said at the meeting. a press conference. An on-site inspection will be carried out once the necessary measures are taken before a country is removed from the watch list, he said.
The FATF removed Mongolia and Iceland from its watch list, yielding significant progress in correcting deficiencies.
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government has escaped degradation after progress has appeared. The measures come with identifying and monitoring the dangers of terrorist financing and strengthening controls on illicit currency movements. Pakistan has been on the FATFI monitoring list since 2018 and has not met the past. 4 for completing the program.
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Since then, Khan’s administration has amended 15 laws to address its shortcomings and also improves the ability of law enforcement to investigate and prosecute money laundering cases, according to the Ministry of Finance.
The remaining six are “serious gaps,” Pleyer said.
Pakistan was also seeking diplomats within the FATF, which includes 37 countries and two regional organizations: China, Turkey and Malaysia have lobbied to avoid severe sanctions in the past. India, which accuses Pakistan of militant investment teams operating in its component of Kashmir, had pressed heavily for a demotion.
At the meeting, India presented evidence of its statement that Pakistan continued with terrorist groups, according to others close to the matter.
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India included evidence that it believed proved that the suicide bombing that killed 40 Indian infantrymen in Pulwama last year was planned in Pakistan, other people said, who called for unidentified and led to the relution of media regulations.
The FATFI responded to a request for comment on India’s submission.
India also highlighted the weapons recovered from Kashmir in recent weeks and Pakistan’s lack of efforts to restrict terrorist financing, adding masood Azhar, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakvi and Dawood Ibrahim, other people said.
Pakistan will need to continue to paint its weaknesses, adding the ability of law enforcement to identify and investigate terrorist financing activities and apply opposing sanctions to all designated terrorists and their associates, according to the FATFI statement.
– With that of Sudhi Ranjan Sen