Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has lashed out at FATF’s decision to keep Pakistan in its grey list despite fulfilling 26 out of the 27 points of the issued plan of action.
In a statement, FM Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that it needs to be determined whether the FATF is a technical institution or a political one.
Pakistan had successfully fulfilled the 26 recommendations made by FATF and progress has been made on the 27th point, hence there is no justification to maintain Pakistan on FATF’s grey list, he added.
The foreign minister noted that some forces want the sword to continue hanging over Pakistan.
FM Qureshi further reiterated Pakistan’s commitment to o curb money laundering and terror financing and anything else that is in country’s own interest.
The development comes as FATF on Friday a day earlier, had announced its decision to keep Pakistan on its grey list till October 2021.
Read More: FATF refuses to remove Pakistan from its grey list
Dr Marcus Pleyer – FATF President, held a press conference on Friday (today) following the culmination five-day plenary meeting from June 21st to June 25th in Paris.
The virtual meeting of the FATF Plenary took place under the presidency of Dr Marcus Pleyer, while delegates representing 205 members of the Global Network and observer organisations including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units were also in attendance.
Addressing the press briefing, Dr Marus Pleyer said that Pakistan will remain on FATF grey list till October 2021 as the country needs to do more to address and tackle terror financing-related matters.
Despite the fact that FATF President acknowledged that Pakistan had in fact made significant progress and has successfully addressed 26 out of the total 27 points regarding the plan of action issued by FATF earlier; the forum issued yet another six objectives/recommendations for Pakistan for the country to be removed from its grey list.