Pakistan is likely to come under intense pressure from India at the plenary, as Delhi is sure to raise the issue of Pak-based terror groups

by Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury

NEW DELHI: At next week’s Financial Action Task Force plenary in Paris, India will highlight lack of measures in Pakistan to curb flow of funds to terrorists, notwithstanding Islamabad’s efforts to act against terror infrastructure just ahead of the meet.

Pakistan is likely to come under intense pressure from India at the plenary, as Delhi is sure to raise the issue of Pak-based terror groups Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and LeT carrying out recent attack on a military camp at Sunjuwan in Jammu.

The FATF is an intergovernmental organisation coordinating efforts to combat money laundering and terror financing. At the Paris session from February 18 to 23, the FATF will assess Islamabad’s efforts in the past few months to make its legal regime and law enforcing machinery more effective to curb flow of funds to terrorist outfits.

Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain recently approved an ordinance to amend a section of the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act, enabling authorities to act against terrorists and terror organisations proscribed by the UN Security Council, including sealing their offices and freezing bank accounts. The ordinance is apparently a move to comply with the FATF requirement ahead of the plenary of the intergovernmental organisation.

Delhi has taken note also of the US proposal for allocating $256 mn in civilian assistance and $80 mn in military aid to Pakistan in the budget for the new financial year. This comes just a few weeks after the US suspended all security assistance to Pakistan, accusing the South Asian country of not doing enough to fight terrorism in the region.