India to seek downgrading of Pakistan on terrorism financing list

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday the government will request that Pakistan be downgraded by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global body created to counter terrorism financing and money laundering.

"There is a meeting of FATF in mid-May," Arun Jaitley told reporters. "We would want that the FATF for Pakistan should be downgraded."

The development comes a day after the UN sanctions committee on the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda on Wednesday announced the designation of Masood Azhar, leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), over its ties to Al-Qaeda.

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The JeM has claimed responsibility for the Pulwama suicide attack that killed 40 CRPF soldiers and led to a spike in military tensions between India and Pakistan.

It took ten years for the listing of Masood Azhar. India had proposed the listing in 2009, but China had continued to block the listing citing lack of consensus. In March of 2019, when China had put a hold at the listing of Masood Azhar, 14 out of 15 members of UNSC backed his listing.

The development has been welcomed by the US, UK. A British high commission spokesperson said it is "positive development for the security and stability of the South Asia region."

France was the first country to react on the listing of Masood Azhar on Wednesday calling it "successful realisation" of its efforts.

Azhar was released from prison in exchange for 155 hostages held on an Indian Airlines flight that had been hijacked to Kandahar in 1999. Since then, he is responsible for many terror attacks in India including the 2001 Parliament attack and 2019 Pulwama attack.

(With inputs from agencies)