Last week, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the head of the Pakistani Army, asked the US for assistance to obtain an early loan from the IMF. Since June 2018, Pakistan has been included in the ‘grey list' of countries with weak anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing policies by the Paris-based global watchdog

Ever since the killing of Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul by the United States, questions have been raised about Pakistan’s involvement in giving the country information about the terrorist’s whereabouts. Last week, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the head of the Pakistani Army, asked the US for assistance to obtain an early loan from the IMF. Additionally, according to sources, he engaged in a telephone conversation with the US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, about his efforts to pull Pakistan out of the economic mess. The US feels that the Taliban has violated the deal signed between the two by giving shelter to the Al-Qaeda chief, ANI reported.

According to a report in the Times of Israel, experts believe that the White House may have used pressure methods and sought a trade-off with the country, the US supporting Pakistan during its financial crisis in exchange for Pakistan disclosing the information about the Al-Qaeda chief. Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Michael Rubin observes that it is unclear from where the drone that fired the two missiles into the terrorist home flew. He further stated that it would be much clearer that Bajwa was involved in the killing if the drones that came from Pakistan.

Michael argued that it’s time to make Pakistan deliver all of Al-Qaeda’s assets immediately and abide by all FATF counterterrorism recommendations. He further stated that it is time that the Biden administration should use caution while allowing the South Asian country to profit from its continued support for terrorism.

Since June 2018, Pakistan has been included in the ‘grey list' of countries with weak anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing policies by the Paris-based global watchdog.

Pakistan’s imports, exports, remittances, and restricted access to foreign credit have all suffered due to being added to the grey list. The country was added to the list as it was unsuccessful in implementing the worldwide standards and has made little effort in the investigation and prosecution of leaders of terrorist groups designated by the UN.