Jaishankar’s statement proves India guilty: FO

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Monday said it was considering approaching the president of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for an appropriate action against India after its confession of politicizing the forum.

"Following the recent confession by the Indian government, India’s credentials for assessing Pakistan in the FATF as co-chair of the Joint Group or for that matter any other country are subject to questions, which we urge the FATF to look into," said the Foreign Office spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry in the weekly press briefing here.

Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on July 18 confessed that ‘the Narendra Modi government ensured that Pakistan remained on the grey list of FATF". In response to queries asked by the media persons on India’s disagreeable role in the FATF greylisting of Pakistan, the spokesperson said, "The Indian statement not only exposes its true colors, but also vindicates Pakistan’s long standing stance on its negative role in the FATF".

Chaudhri mentioned that Pakistan had always been highlighting to the international community politicization of the FATF and undermining of its processes by India. "The recent Indian statement is just further corroboration of its continued efforts to use an important technical forum for its narrow political designs against Pakistan," he said.

He said while Pakistan had been sincerely and constructively engaged with the FATF during the implementation of the Action Plan, India had left no stone unturned to cast doubts on Pakistan’s progress through disgraceful means".

"Pakistan has been exposing India’s duplicitous role to the international community in the past and it will also bring this recent confession by India to the notice of FATF and broader international community," he said.

The spokesperson said Pakistan’s immense progress in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter-Terrorism Financing (CTF) domain demonstrated through concrete, tangible and verifiable actions had been openly acknowledged by the FATF.

"We are resolved to sustain this momentum and trajectory with the support and cooperation of our international partners. India’s delusions of putting pressure on Pakistan have always remained unfulfilled and would never see the light of day," he said.

The FO Spokesperson said despite distractions, including politicization of FATF processes by certain jurisdictions, Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to bringing its AML/CFT systems to international standards for its own good and also to fulfill its international obligations and commitments.

Meanwhile, Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar Monday said India was ''actively'' engaged in politicizing and undermining the technical processes and spirit of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). “Our progress is nevertheless undeniable and we shall soon be completing our both action plans,” he said in a tweet. Hammad said the statement of Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar only confirmed what Pakistan had been saying all along.