India has opened a multi-dimensional front against Pakistan in the aftermath of the horrific terror attack in Pahalgam and is strategically planning twin financial strikes on Islamabad to throttle support for cross-border terrorism.
As per sources. India is initiating steps to actively pursue getting Pakistan back onto the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.
Besides, India has also raised concerns with the International Monetary Fund over its $7 billion aid package to Pakistan, alleging misuse of funds for terror-related activities. The deal for the three-year aid package was finalised in July 2024.
India has asked the IMF to review loans disbursed to Pakistan, said a Reuters report on Friday, citing an Indian government source.
Pakistan secured a $7 billion bailout programme from the IMF last year and was granted a new $1.3 billion climate resilience loan in March.
The programme is critical for Pakistan, which said it has stabilised under the bailout that helped it stave off a default threat.
The IMF Executive Board will meet on May 9 to discuss Pakistan’s staff-level agreement for a new arrangement, along with the first review of Pakistan’s ongoing bailout programme, the global lender said earlier this week.
Reacting to the reports, Khurram Shehzad, adviser to Pakistan’s finance minister told Dawn on Friday that the country’s IMF programme was “completely on track”.
He said that they conducted “very productive meetings” with the IMF, World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other International Financial Institutions.
“While in the spring meetings in DC, we did about 70 meetings within (a) span of six days,” he said.
Pakistan was put on the ‘grey list’ of the global money laundering and terror financing watchdog in June 2018.
Islamabad was taken off the list in October 2022 after it committed to curbing terror funding and it jailed, fined, and confiscated assets of individuals linked to terror groups.
If reinstated, the FATF grey list status will increase scrutiny on Pakistan’s financial dealings, potentially restricting foreign investments and capital inflows into the country.
India is likely to engage with key FATF member states in the coming weeks to garner support for its move ahead of the next plenary session.
The plenary is the decision-making body of the FATF, which consists of 40 member states. The plenary usually meets thrice a year, in February, June, and October.
India has already taken a host of punitive measures against Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack that left 25 tourists and a local dead.
Apart from downgrading diplomatic relations with Pakistan, India has suspended the Indus Waters Treaty, closed the Integrated Check Post at the Attari-Wagah border, cancelled visa services for Pakistani nationals and closed its airspace to Pakistani flights.
The Centre has also banned 16 Pakistani YouTube channels and blocked the Instagram accounts of several Pakistanis. (WION)
