Pakistan is out of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List, but will leopard change its spots on proxy terror?

ISLAMABAD, Oct 25: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) removed (October 21) Pakistan from its "grey list" after more than four years. The multilateral watchdog said Islamabad would continue its work to further improve systems to combat terror financing and money laundering.

At the conclusion of FATF's two-day plenary meeting in Paris, the body's president, T. Raja Kumar of Singapore, announced that Pakistan was being taken off the grey list in line with a consensus decision by the watchdog's 39 member countries. The reforms carried out by Islamabad were good for the security and stability of Pakistan and the region, he said.

While Pakistan may have exited from the 'Grey List', its history of support to terrorist individuals and entities shows that it is unlikely to reform itself into a good cop overnight!

A recent article by Aparna Rawal for South Asia Voices (October 17) informs that the deep state in Pakistan remains synonymous with an intricate network of terror, narcotics and funding which span the globe. At the forefront of Pakistan's operations is D Company and Haqqani Network.

Most of these crime syndicates thrive through extortions, violence, kidnappings and even assassinations while re-routing funds through formal channels like charities or legitimate business enterprises. A quick glance at the past shows how the deep state in Pakistan used money laundering for terror and narcotics trading in its global operations.

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is known to support various entities, terror outfits or rackets which would benefit their well-articulated "Gazwa-i-Hind" (bleed India with thousand cuts) strategy against India and which will also allow them to exert their influence in the South Asian regions by all possible means. This is also one of the reasons why Dawood Ibrahim proved to be effective. To be indispensable to the ISI, he funded ISI-funded terror organizations, while in exchange he received ISI protection. This arrangement served the twin purposes, of firstly, providing a front for ISI's dealings with terror outfits and secondly, for moving funds required to covertly support the outfits.

Since 2016, the ISI has been aggressively and covertly operating in activities to destabilize India. There have been many Pakistani sleeper cells active in India, with the D Company's affiliations.

Arms transportation and terror funding are becoming more evident through the hawala channels. Several ISI-trained components are being tasked to carry out reconnaissance missions against India.

Recently, the D Company-ISI hand was exposed through various crackdowns on terror modulesconducted by Indian security agencies. On September 22, an ISI agent Lal Mohammed was shot dead in Nepal. He delivered counterfeit Indian currency from Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh to India.

Lal used to provide logistical support to ISI and had links to Dawood Ibrahim and his D Company.

Apart from D Company's own terrorist activities, the organization has maintained relations with other terror outfits and even made donations to them through their front companies. On September 26, Riyaz Bhatti was also arrested in an extortion case. Besides, henchmen employed for extortion and other criminal activities, Dawood has several agents who make investments on his behalf worldwide. (IANS)

Also Read: We have descended into a state of brutality, says Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan

Also Watch: