ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday contradicted and out-rightly rejected the Indian claims about Pakistan to remain in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)'s grey list due to "failure" to complete the action plan, and hoped that the forum would take cognizance of India's malicious campaign of politicizing the FATF proceedings.
"Pakistan firmly rejects the remarks by the Indian MEA spokesperson and out-rightly dismisses the fabricated news reports in Indian media falsely claiming another "extension" in Pakistan's continuation on the Grey List due to "failure" to complete the Action Plan, in the recently concluded virtual FATF plenary session,"
Foreign Office spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said that, while responding to Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson's remarks and Indian media reports on "FATF grey listing of Pakistan".
She further said that Pakistan also completely rejected the MEA spokesperson's terrorism-related allegations against Pakistan.
Farooqui pointed out that Pakistan was prepared to present its progress report to the FATF in the Plenary Meeting, which was scheduled for June 2020.
However, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the FATF decided on 28 April 2020 on a general pause for four months in the review process for a number of countries under the ICRG (International Cooperation Review Group) assessment including Pakistan, she said.
Farooqui said that the agenda of the FATF's virtual plenary meeting, held on 24 June 2020, did not include Pakistan.
In this virtual plenary meeting, she added that no new decision regarding Pakistan was made. "The decisions taken by FATF in the February 2020 plenary meeting regarding a number of countries including Pakistan remain in effect. The evaluation of Pakistan's FATF action plan would be made in the next plenary cycle of FATF, in which Pakistan would present its progress report," she explained.
In this backdrop, the spokesperson added that reports in the Indian media insinuating that FATF had extended Pakistan on the grey list were patently misleading, and part of the incessant smear campaign by India against Pakistan.
"Pakistan has repeatedly drawn the attention of the international community towards India's sinister attempts to use FATF process for its narrow political gains," she said, adding that Pakistan had also been raising the issue of India's dubious credentials as an impartial and objective assessor of Pakistan's progress on the FATF action plan.
Farooqui asserted that India's efforts to misuse the technical forum of the FATF for discrediting Pakistan had been noticed by the FATF members, and were not appreciated by the international community.
"Pakistan remains committed to completing its FATF action plan and continues to make progress. We hope that the FATF membership would take cognizance of India's malicious campaign against Pakistan and reject any attempt at politicizing the FATF proceedings," she added.
Indian MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava had earlier claimed on Thursday that "the FATF vindicated India's position that Pakistan has not taken any appropriate action against terror networks operation from its soil."
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020