ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office, on Thursday, reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolve to further strengthen its Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes to align it with international standards and obligations, as the FATF plenary meeting, scheduled in the last week of this month, will review the country’s progress so far.
Speaking at his weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that the FATF plenary meeting, scheduled in the last week of June 2021, will review the progress made by Pakistan under the FATF action plan and subsequently announce its decision.
“Without prejudging the outcome of the upcoming plenary meeting, we would like to reaffirm our commitment to further strengthen our AML/CFT regime to align it with international standards and fulfill our international obligations in this regard,” he added.
He said that Pakistan has made significant strides during implementation of the action plan through concerted national efforts.
“The tremendous progress made by Pakistan leading toward the conclusion of the action plan has been acknowledged by the FATF as well as the larger international community,” he added.
To a question, he categorically dispelled the impression that the recent legislation in the parliament was aimed at paving the way for releasing Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, saying that the legislative measures taken, only aimed at giving full effect to the July 17, 2019 judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the case.
He said that Pakistan abides by all its international obligations, and “this applies to the ICJ judgment in case of Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav”.
“The legislative measures taken by Pakistan are only aimed at giving full effect to the judgment of the ICJ and it has nothing to do with releasing the Indian spy. The legislation or its purpose should not be, in any way, misconstrued,” the spokesperson asserted, adding that the ICJ requires the government of Pakistan to provide an effective review and reconsideration to the decision in Jadhav case.
The Foreign Office’s statement comes following criticism by the opposition parties in wake of the recent legislation in the National Assembly with regard to Jadhav, for what they accused the government of paving the way for releasing the Indian spy for a possible reconciliation with India.
To another question about any reconciliation with India, Chaudhri said that Pakistan has consistently maintained that it wants peaceful relations with all its neighbours, including India.
However, he added that for normalisation of relations with India, resolution of the longstanding disputes, particularly, the core issue of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is critical.
“Unfortunately, India through its illegal and unilateral actions of 5 August 2019 and continuing gross and systematic human rights violations in the occupied territory has vitiated the environment. The onus is on India to create an enabling environment for a meaningful engagement,” he reiterated.
About the illegal sale of uranium in India, he reiterated Pakistan’s concerns at the repeated incidents of attempted illegal sale of uranium in India.
“These incidents point to lax controls, poor regulatory and enforcement mechanisms, as well as possible existence of a black market for nuclear materials inside India. Instead of resorting to baseless and usual anti-Pakistan rhetoric, India must thoroughly investigate the matter in a credible and transparent manner,” he added.
To comply with its international obligations, he stated that India must also take verifiable measures for strengthening the security of its nuclear materials.
He also rejected the statement by Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesperson that Pakistan was maligning India through these incidents.
“The incident took place in India and was reported by its own media. The charges were also framed by the Indian police. I, therefore, wonder as to what made the Indian Ministry of External Affairs’ spokesperson believe that it depicted Pakistan’s desperation to malign India,” Chaudhri added.
When his comments were sought on Turkish president’s proposal to take care of the security of Kabul airport along with Pakistan and Hungary following the US withdrawal, Chaudhri said that he was not aware of any such consideration by Pakistan.
“However, we remain committed to play our due role in the Afghan peace process,” he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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