Pakistan continues to be on FATF’s grey list which makes us wonder whether or not FATF is deliberately being unfair to Pakistan. Muhammad Akhtar questions FATF’s reputation and how it is falling for India’s propaganda of keeping Pakistan isolated from the international community
By Muhammad Akhter
The biggest reason for the hardships on Pakistan is being a Muslim country, then the second biggest reason is the nuclear capability, the third big reason is that our defense establishment and the people love the country immensely. Every young soldier in the country considers it an honor to sacrifice his precious life to defend the secrets of the Holy Land. Every citizen of the country is ready to sacrifice his life for the defense of the homeland.
This is the passion that is not digested by the enemies of Islam and Pakistan. That is why Pakistan is entangled in various problems, obstacles are put in the way of Pakistan. Pakistan has definitely stood by the world in every difficulty, but in spite of this the bigoted world is targeting Pakistan.
Is Pakistan getting isolated?
The FATF is a link in the same chain. Pakistan has achieved the set targets, but despite this Pakistan is not being removed from the gray list, but an environment is being created to impose more sanctions on Pakistan. India, Pakistan’s eternal enemy, is playing a negative role in this regard. India is trying to tighten its grip on Pakistan. India is also conspiring for this and using its influence.
In recent days, the Indian Foreign Minister has admitted that India is influencing to keep Pakistan on the gray list. After this confession, the neutrality of both India and the FATF has been exposed. After this confession, it has been proved that the FATF is a political sham working under Indian influence. The Indian Foreign Minister has finally admitted that India is influencing the FATF to keep Pakistan on the gray list.
The FATF’s credibility and impartiality are now in question. Indian Foreign Minister S.Jay Shankar’s acknowledged that his government has ensured that Pakistan is included in the FATF’s gray list. This statement by the Indian Foreign Minister confirms Pakistan’s position that political exploitation is being carried out through the FATF and that India has influence over it.
Is FATF getting influenced by India?
Jay Shankar has told this truth at a gathering of BJP political activists. It also shows that Hindutva politics are trying to influence international institutions. Can the FATF get out of this controversy after this acknowledgment by India? Shouldn’t the FATF take steps to prove its neutrality? Will this institution is able to maintain its credibility after such statements, can the decisions of FATF be called based on justice?
Hence, it has been proven that the FATF is acting as a tool of the bigoted Western world. The FATF will now have to take strong action against India. The demands of justice must be met to clarify one’s position. Despite following 26 out of 27 points of FATF, Pakistan was kept on the gray list, which is against the true spirit of the organization. This logic is beyond comprehension to put Pakistan on the gray list despite following almost all the points. Now, the only reason seems to be that India is using the FATF to achieve its regional political goals.
India provides weapons to ISIS, but it is ignored. According to the US Treasury Department, India is the world’s largest recipient of money through remittances. But this FATF does not take any action on it either. Indian institutions and individuals were involved in money laundering 1.5 to 1.53 billion through illegal and dubious transactions. Despite such large scale money laundering, no action was taken against India.
Now is the time for the international body, the FATF, to take action against biases and against certain countries’ decisions to make concessions and crack down on certain countries. The world is silent on money laundering from India. Doesn’t the financial sponsorship and support of terrorists from India hurt anyone at the loss of human lives? After all these incidents, the recent events in Pakistan cannot be ignored in any way.
After 9/11, if Pakistan supported the United States, it had to suffer immense losses. If Pakistan became an ally of the United States in the global war on terror, it had to pay a heavy price. We sacrificed 70,000 precious lives to bring peace to the world, suffered trillions of dollars, one generation of us was the victim of suicide bombings, one generation lived in fear of terrorists, and we are foreigners Cut off from the world. While rescuing the world from terrorists, we ourselves came on the hit list of terrorists. They were left alone in sports and cultural activities.
It was not possible to hold international sports activities in the country and there was no continuity in cultural activities. Irreparable damage was done to all kinds of businesses. It all happened despite American support. Ironically, now that we have rejected the United States, Pakistan’s peace has been threatened. Pakistan has refused to give bases to the United States and has assured its support in the peace journey.
Pakistan has learned from the past and adopted a policy of neutrality in regional politics. Pakistan has put its interests first instead of being a party to Iran and Saudi Arabia. Pakistan has adopted the same policy in regional affairs. Pakistan took the same position with the United States. Even in the case of Afghanistan, Pakistan is moving forward only under the policy of establishing lasting peace in the region.
Pakistan adopting a new approach towards International community
The United States once again tried to make Pakistan a party but Pakistan refused. Even after this denial, Pakistan’s problems have increased. Recently, US Deputy Assistant Secretary Angela Price Aggeler called on Chief of Army Staff, Issues of mutual interest and the current security situation in Afghanistan and bilateral cooperation in various fields were discussed during the meeting.
Chief of Army Staff said that Pakistan wanted to maintain the tradition of bilateral relations and a long-term, multilateral relationship with the United States. US Deputy Assistant Secretary Angela Price Aggeler praised Pakistan’s efforts for regional peace and stability and commended Pakistan’s efforts for the Afghan peace process.
Pakistan has taken a neutral stance. Apparently the meetings will continue, but the reality is that there are problems after “No More”. India’s archenemy India, Ashraf Ghani’s non-representative government in Afghanistan, is engaged in conspiracies against Pakistan with US support. This Pakistan is being punished for refusal.
First the terrorist incident in Lahore, then the tragic incident of Dasu has been a failed attempt to spoil Pakistan’s relations with China. The alleged abduction of the Afghan ambassador’s daughter in Islamabad is one in a series. All these incidents are aimed at destroying Pakistan’s peace, tarnishing Pakistan’s image and telling the world that no one is safe in Pakistan, Pakistan is also paying a heavy price for friendship with China because of CPEC, Pakistan Enemies’ are not digested.
The World community must remember that Pakistan has fought all forms of terrorism for two decades, Pakistan’s defense establishment together with its people have thwarted the intentions of the enemies of the country. This time too, the net being laid against Pakistan will be thwarted by Pakistan’s defense establishment along with its zealous people.
The writer is a Freelance Columnist at Baaghi TV, Daily Islamabad, and specializes in IOJK Affairs and other international issues. He can be reached at @MAkhter. The views expressed in the article are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.