India to target Pak on terror funding
After raising the issue of terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba’s operations chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi’s release with the United Nations, India is now going to target Pakistan on its dubious record on terror funding at another multilateral forum, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering, sources told HT.
India and Pakistan are both members of the Asia/Pacific Group (APG) on money laundering which is an affiliated body of the FATF.
“After amending its laws to strictly deal with money laundering and terror financing, Pakistan has become a compliant member of the group but on ground the reality is different. It has not taken any action against globally designated terrorists like Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and Dawood Ibrahim or put a freeze on their assets. It has provided free sanctuary and financial freedom to these terrorists and that’s what we are going to highlight when the FATF plenary takes place in Australia’s Brisbane next month,” said a senior government functionary associated with the exercise.
The official added that evidence of Pakistan’s role in funding terror in India is being gathered and it will be presented before the FATF’s International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) that analyses high-risk countries and recommend actions to address the money laundering or terror financing risks emanating from them.
Central Intelligence agencies, investigation agencies and state police have been asked to provide details of Pakistan’s complicity in financing terror in India, said sources.
The FATF was established in 1989 as an inter-governmental body with the objective of setting standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
According to government sources, the coming FATF plenary will also focus on activities of Islamic State (IS) which has emerged as global terror threat.