The FATF had said earlier that Pakistan has been unable to deal with terror groups propping up under different banners, with many contesting last year’s general elections as well

FATF has red-flagged JuD, which the terror watchdog officials and experts claim, is a charity front for terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

All eyes are on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) review meeting in Beijing on January 21-24 as Pakistan is seeking support from its all-weather ally to avoid being blacklisted.

The FATF had said earlier that Pakistan has been unable to deal with terror groups propping up under different banners, with many contesting last year’s general elections as well.

To avoid being blacklisted, Pakistan will have to take decisive action against Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) and its chief Hafiz Saeed, officials told ET. Pakistan must respond by January 8 to FATF’s queries.

FATF has red-flagged JuD, which the terror watchdog officials and experts claim, is a charity front for terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba.

In October, FATF had warned Pakistan, asking it to swiftly complete its full action plan by February 2020 or face blacklisting in its next plenary session. Blacklisting could result in a freeze of capital flows to the country, slow progress in refinancing/re-profiling of loans from major bilateral creditors, and increased headwinds from a weaker global economic backdrop, according to a recent IMF report.

However, Pakistan’s allies Turkey and Malaysia — tacitly backed by current FATF chair China — have provided three necessary votes to avoid blacklisting.

In October, there was consensus on retaining Pakistan in the 'grey list' based on its poor performance on a 27-point action plan. The FATF had noted then that Pakistan had addressed only five of the 27 tasks given to it to control funding to terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

Pakistan was formally placed on the grey list in June 2018, with Islamabad being repeatedly warned of potential blacklisting, given continued inaction over the funding of proscribed terror groups, including the JuD.

In his defence, Saeed has argued that he has nothing to do with LeT, although this can be refuted through JuD’s own literature and countless sermons by him.

Last week, Pakistan received 150 questions from FATF over the follow-up report the country had submitted after the October review in Paris. The questions seek clarifications from Islamabad over the achievements cited in the report and the plan of action heading into 2020 and beyond.

Islamabad is expected to file its responses to the FATF questionnaire on January 8, before the scheduled FATF meeting in Beijing.

On December 11, a Lahore-based Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) indicted Saeed in a terror-financing case. On December 18, following a case filed by Gujranwala’s Counter-Terrorism Department, Saeed and close aide Zafar Iqbal were indicted in another terror funding case. Following the latest hearing this week, the ATC has adjourned the case till January 2.