Foreign Office said Friday that the outcome of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting for placing Pakistan on terror financing watchlist is "awaited," refusing to divulge on the controversy and its impact on Pakistan-US relations till the decision of the global watchdog is made public.
Responding to media queries during his weekly briefing, Spokesperson Foreign Office Dr Mohammad Faisal declined to comment on the impacts of FATF's possible putting Pakistan on terror financing watchlist on Pakistan-US relations saying: "Once things get clearer, we will be able to comment on Pak-US relations in this context."
On the meeting of International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG)/FATF, he said: "So far, the outcome of the ICRG/FATF meeting in Paris is awaited." To a series of questions particularly on the international media reports claiming that FATF has put Pakistan on the terror financing watchlist, the spokesperson declined to comment further and read out a few verses from the works of Faiz Ahmad Faiz.
He reiterated Pakistan's position on the letter jointly submitted to the FATF by the US and UK on January 20, 2018 nominating Pakistan for placement in the "Grey List", saying Pakistan has serious concerns over and objections to the introduction of this new "nomination" procedure which is "unprecedented and in clear violation of established rules/practices of FATF."
Earlier through a tweet on February 21, Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif had claimed that Pakistan has been given a three-month reprieve by the global watchdog and maintained that Pakistan's "efforts have paid (off)" and there was "no consensus for nominating Pakistan."
The spokesperson also declined to comment on the foreign minister's earlier tweet. On the US concern, he said that most of the concerns raised by the US side regarding deficiencies in Pakistan's counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering [CFT/AML] regime had already been addressed in 2015 when Pakistan got an exit from the "Grey List."
He said that in 2009, FATF identified "strategic deficiencies" in Pakistan's AML/CFT regime and to overcome these deficiencies, Pakistan agreed to implement FAFT's action plan. As a result, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) introduced a comprehensive set of new rules and guidelines on CFT/AML. Stand-alone legislation on money laundering was also enacted by the Parliament to deal with the AML issues, he added.
He further said that an operationally independent and administrative financial monitoring unit (FMU) was established under the AML law with the sole mandate of receiving, analyzing and disseminating suspicious transaction reports (STRs) and currency transaction reports (CTRs).
He said that investigative powers in relation to AML/CFT have been assigned to the four federal law enforcement agencies, namely: National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Directorate General (Investigation and Intelligence) of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
In June 2015, after strenuous efforts, the implementation of this action plan was completed and Pakistan was de-listed from FATF's grey list, he said, adding that this exit was an acknowledgment of the robustness of Pakistan's CFT/AML regime that is well in line with international standards.
To a question, he said that Pakistan and the US are trying to find 'common ground' in their bilateral relations, which is happening outside public glare. "So far, we have not failed," he added. Commenting on the report by the US intelligence agencies in which they have reportedly warned Congress that Pakistan will continue to slip out of America's influence and become a threat to Washington's interests in the South Asia, Faisal said, "It is surprising that in the US, we are seeing this report when in reality, it is the US that is drifting away from Pakistan despite our long time relationship."
He said that the several unilateral actions by the US in recent months have impacted the relationship and it is for the US to rebuild the trust. "We have categorically conveyed to the US that this relationship can move forward only in an environment of mutual trust and respect," he added.
When his comments were sought on Iran's decision to hand over operational control of Chabahar Port to India, the spokesperson declined to comment on the development, saying, "We do not comment on bilateral relations and agreements of other countries."
"We believe that Chabahar and Gwadar are complementary [ports to each other]," he added. On media reports that China wants India to join Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), he said that the CPEC holds a special significance within the BRI as it is the flagship project of this initiative.
"China has on several occasions reiterated that the CPEC, under the auspices of BRI, is a win-win collaborative project for not just China and Pakistan but for all countries," he added. The CPEC is currently a bilateral undertaking between Pakistan and China, he said, adding that it is also the only project which is currently being implemented in a practical form. Both the speed of implementation and results achieved in the CPEC were recognized, he said, adding that China maintained its stance of closely cooperating with Pakistan on the CPEC.
To another query, he said that Pakistan and Russia signed an agreement on military and technical cooperation in April 2017, adding that the two countries are exploring new opportunities of military and technical collaboration under this agreement. A joint technical and military committee is being formed under this framework to support the bilateral efforts of cooperation in counterterrorism and defense, he said. Currently, the process is under consideration with relevant authorities on the both sides, he added.
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