Former Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has alleged that some countries are using FATF as a tool to put Pakistan under pressure and cited EAM S Jaishankar’s statement where the latter said that the Narendra Modi government ensured that Pakistan remained on the grey list.
Former Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has written a letter to FATF President Marcus Pleyer, seeking a probe into India’s alleged role in keeping Pakistan on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Malik in his letter to Pleyer called for an investigation by a special team of FATF following the confessional statement of the Indian foreign minister Dr S Jaishankar to “expose” the truth.
According to a report by Dawn, Malik also questioned the integrity and transparency of FATF and wrote a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan urging him to file a petition in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against FATF’s discrimination and continued victimisation of Pakistan.
Indian involvement in pushing Pakistan into the grey list: Malik
Claiming that India was behind keeping Pakistan in the grey list, Malik alleged that the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog was not taking Islamabad out of the grey list due to political pressure and influence by some countries.
“The confession by the Indian foreign minister raised a big question on the integrity and transparency of FATF and confirmed the Indian involvement in pushing Pakistan into the grey list,” he said.
“Unfortunately, FATF has not yet moved any action against Indian minister to prove the neutrality of FATF. Despite clear evidence of involvement in terror financing, money laundering and even in heinous crimes of nuclear proliferation, India is being spared and no legal action is being initiated against it by FATF,” Dawn quoted him as saying.
‘Inimical countries using FATF as a tool to put Pak under pressure’
He further said that some inimical countries were using FATF as a tool to put Pakistan under pressure with ulterior motives.
In July, External affairs minister S Jaishankar had said the Narendra Modi government ensured that Pakistan remained on the grey list of the FATF.
Due to us, Pakistan is under the lens of FATF and it was kept on the grey list, said Jaishankar adding that New Delhi has been successful in pressurizing Islamabad.
The fact that Pakistan’s behaviour has changed is because of pressure put by India, he added.
Pakistan ally Turkey has also been added to the grey list with Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu calling it “a political move”.
