ISLAMABAD: Pakistani law minister Farogh Naseem has said the country had done “everything” to be removed from a Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list and Pakistan’s case would now serve as a test of the “fairness” of the global financial watchdog.
Pakistan was placed on FATF’s grey list of countries in 2018 for inadequate terror funding and money laundering controls.
In June this year, FATF President Marcus Pleyer said Islamabad had made “significant progress” but there remained “serious deficiencies” in mechanisms to plug money laundering and terrorism financing.
The country was also handed another seven-point action plan to be implemented along with the original 27 points to exit the grey list.
Speaking to an international media outlet in comments published on Tuesday, Naseem said Pakistan had met 26 out of the 27 action points and now the country was “actually a test of FATF’s fairness.”
“The FATF people are good people. I'm not being critical against them,” the law minister said. “But as long as these (FATF) standards are universally applied, and not applied to only Pakistan, and as long as there is no international politics, then we welcome FATF. Let it be applied to everyone.”
Following the June review, Pakistan said it was committed to complying with the FATF evaluation process.
“It was also noted by FATF member countries that Pakistan is subject to perhaps the most challenging and comprehensive action plan ever given to any country,” Pakistani federal minister Hammad Azhar wrote on Twitter.
Azhar, who was then leading Pakistan’s effort to implement the FATF roadmap, said the country was “subject to dual evaluation processes of FATF with differing time lines.”
Last year, Azhar said FATF had acknowledged that any blacklisting, meaning further downgrading of the country’s status, was off the table now.
But Pleyer said in June the risk of Pakistan being put on the blacklist had not gone, and the country must continue to work on outstanding action points to fix its financial monitoring mechanisms.
Pakistan says done ‘everything’ to get off grey list, now test of FATF ‘fairness’
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Pakistan says done ‘everything’ to get off grey list, now test of FATF ‘fairness’
- Law minister says Pakistan has largely addressed 26 out of 27 items on a 2018 action plan by FATF
- Pakistan placed on grey list of countries in 2018 over inadequate money laundering, terror funding controls
UN hails Pakistan’s peacekeepers serving in six missions worldwide
- Pakistan is the fifth-largest troop contributor, with 171 peacekeepers killed in UN service
- Over 2,600 Pakistani military and police personnel are deployed across Africa and beyond
ISLAMABAD: The United Nations on Friday praised Pakistan’s contribution to global peacekeeping, saying Pakistani military and police personnel were currently serving in six UN missions around the world.
According to information shared by the world body alongside its social media post, Pakistan is the fifth-largest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations, with 2,662 personnel — including 147 women — deployed across missions in Abyei, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Western Sahara.
“In six UN peacekeeping missions around the world, over 2,600 military and police officers from Pakistan are serving for peace, leaving their families to protect those most at risk,” the UN said.
“We thank these brave women and men for their service and sacrifice,” it added.
Pakistan joined UN peacekeeping in 1960 when it deployed a contingent to the UN Operation in the Congo and has since played a prominent role in peace operations, undertaking tasks ranging from civilian protection and medical outreach to disaster response and infrastructure rebuilding, according to the UN.
A total of 171 Pakistani peacekeepers have lost their lives while serving under the UN flag, the organization said.
Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Asim Iftikhar Ahmad echoed the message, saying Pakistani peacekeepers had made the nation proud through their service.
“Pakistan has worked as part of UN Peacekeeping to serve the cause of international peace,” he said in a post on X. “Our brave men and women in blue helmets have made the nation proud through their dedicated service in support of communities affected by conflicts and wars.”
