ISLAMABAD: In a meeting with US chief diplomat for South Asian affairs, Alice Wells on Monday, Interior Minister Brig (R) Ijaz Ahmad Shah highlighted the country’s progress in meeting the criteria set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the initiatives taken for the same.
It’s part of a three-day meeting with FATF’s Asia Pacific Group (APG) which began in Beijing today.
Wells arrived in Islamabad on Sunday as part of a four-day visit which is aimed at discussing the peace process in Afghanistan, in addition to bilateral and regional issues, the US embassy in Islamabad said in a statement released on the same day.
She met with Brig. Shah a day later where she was apprised of the progress made on FATF-related matters by the authorities assigned with the task. “There has been significant progress on both legislative and administrative matters,” a statement released by the ministry said, adding that the “execution process has also been completed to a greater extent.”
Shah said that Pakistan’s new regulations have “proved to be very helpful in our progress”.
“The US delegation applauded the progress made by the Government of Pakistan despite the scarcity of resources. The meeting concluded with a promise to enhance ties in future ventures,” the statement said.
While addressing the issue of illegal immigrants, Shah said that the government had managed to streamline the process and curb the menace in a successful manner
“In order to facilitate cooperation, the verification of travel documents, including passports, has been streamlined. This has greatly helped in expediting the processes,” the statement read.
Wells also met with Abdul Razak Dawood, Adviser to Prime Minister of Pakistan for Commerce, on Monday whereby the two discussed matters of bilateral trade “The US is eager to increase the trade potential between our two nations. Ms. Wells is of the opinion that agriculture is one sector where immediate progress can be made,” Razak tweeted on Monday.
Wells has been on a tour of South Asia since January 13 and visited Sri Lanka and India prior to her arrival in Pakistan.
Her visit to Islamabad follows closely on the heels of Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s recent trip to the US where he interacted with senior United Nations and American officials in New York and Washington.
According to Amir Rana, director of prominent Islamabad-based think tank, Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, the Afghan peace deal will be top of Wells’ agenda during her Pakistan tour.
Pakistan’s role in recent developments in the Middle East has positioned it as “an effective backdoor communication channel between Iran and the United States,” he added.
In a news briefing in Washington on Friday, Qureshi strongly urged the US to help get Pakistan off the grey-list of global anti-money laundering watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at a decisive meeting in Beijing next month. A downgrade from the grey-list could result in crippling economic sanctions.
During the briefing, Qureshi said Pakistan had fulfilled its commitments to the US on facilitating the Afghanistan peace process, brought the Taliban to the negotiating table and assisted in releasing western hostages from insurgents — and had met FATF’s demands.
The foreign minister reminded Washington: “Pakistan fulfilled your expectations. Now, we too had some expectations, what have you done (for us)?”— hinting Pakistan expected the US would help Islamabad in turn.
The US has consistently enlisted Pakistan’s help in facilitating rocky US-Taliban negotiations, which are reported to be inching near a peace deal this month.
“This is a sequel to Foreign Minister Qureshi’s visit, to coordinate the expected peace deal signing with the Taliban and potential US troops’ pullout from Afghanistan,” leading security analyst, Imtiaz Gul, told Arab News.
Political expert Taimur Shamil told Arab News: “FATF is a tool to politically pressure Pakistan to do America’s bidding in Afghanistan. It... will likely continue till the Afghan issue is resolved.”
Wells is expected to meet Prime Minister Imran Khan and army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa during her visit, as well as foreign minister Qureshi.
Her last visit to Pakistan was in August last year.