Pakistan action against terrorists fearing inclusion in FATF blacklist a facade

Islamabad: – As the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting date draws closer; panic rises in the Pakistan government. Given this restlessness, Pakistan killed four terrorists on Sunday, claiming to have taken steps against terrorists. But it is being pointed out that this action is only a facade and Pakistan has not taken any decisive steps against the terrorists.

On Sunday, Pakistan military declared that it had taken action on the border, in the northern and southern Waziristan, in the Shaktu region. The Pakistan military claimed that terrorist commander Ehsan Ulah alias Ehsan Sanare, along with three of his accomplices were killed in action. The Pakistan military said that Ehsan was involved in terror attacks in Pakistan. The Pakistan military and its cronies are attaching a lot of importance to the action. The Pakistan military action is said to have come, against the background of the FATF meeting coming up on 15th-16th September.

An important meeting of the Asia-Pacific Joint Group of the FATF starts on Tuesday. The meeting will review the 27-point plan given to Pakistan. The action taken in Pakistan over the last three months also will be reviewed in the meeting. In June 2018, FATF had pushed Pakistan in the grey list. At the same time, had instructed Pakistan to act on the 27-point plan. The instructions contained action against the terrorist organisations like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, who are carrying out terrorist activities in India, stopping their funding and actions against Al Qaeda, Taliban and other terrorist organisations.

Against this background, the actions taken by Pakistan will be reviewed during the meeting. Along with the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, the countries China, India, Australia and New Zealand, will also be attending the meeting. The recommendations of this meeting will be tabled in the all-important FATF meeting to be held on 16th of October. The important decision of removing Pakistan from the grey list and including it in the blacklist can be taken, during the meeting. In that scenario, all the financial assistance coming from the international level could get restricted, just like Iran and North Korea. Pakistan may not be able to borrow funds from the World Bank as well as the International Monetary Fund. Therefore, Pakistan seems to be desperately trying to create this facade, of action against terrorist to avoid the FATF ‘Black List’.