India Presses For Pakistan To Stay On Terrorism Financing List

INDIA is pressing for Pakistan to be kept on a terrorism financing watch list following an attack in Kashmir that was claimed by a Pakistan-based militant group, three Indian government officials said today (21).

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body created to counter terrorism financing and money laundering, has been meeting in Paris this week and Pakistan has been hoping to get off a "grey list" of nations with inadequate controls over such activities.

But two Indian government officials dealing with the issue said new information had been provided to the FATF relating to Pakistan after the car bombing last week in the Pulwama district of Kashmir in which 40 paramilitary police were killed.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack. A third Indian official said details relating to the militant group's operations were provided to the FATF.

"It was a post-Pulwama brief," said one of the officials when asked about the information provided to the watchdog.

Pakistan has been on the grey list since June, making it harder for it to access international markets at a time when its economy is stumbling.

The FATF said it would release the results of its review after a meeting of the group's decision-making body.

"We will publish the outcomes from the meeting, including our updated statements identifying high-risk and other monitored jurisdictions, at the end of the meeting, on Friday (22) afternoon," Alexandra Wijmenga-Daniel, FATF communications management advisor, said.

Over 800 officials from global multilateral bodies including the IMF, World Bank are in Paris for the six-day FATF gathering.

(Reuters)