New Delhi [India] : India is preparing to launch a formal initiative to bring Pakistan back onto the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, citing continued concerns over terror financing and money laundering, government sources said on Thursday.
According to officials, India will submit a comprehensive dossier to the FATF, presenting detailed evidence on the activities of specific individuals and organizations allegedly involved in terror-related financial networks operating out of Pakistan. The dossier aims to prompt strict scrutiny under international anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) frameworks.
Sources confirmed that Indian representatives will press the issue during the FATF Plenary scheduled for June, with the intention to prompt renewed monitoring of Pakistan.
The move comes amid lingering concerns that Pakistan has not sustained its commitments made while on the FATF grey list. The FATF removed Pakistan from the list in October 2022, while noting that the country must continue cooperating with the Asia Pacific Group (APG) to strengthen its AML/CFT regime.
Pakistan was last placed on the grey list in June 2018, due to “strategic deficiencies” in its measures against terrorist financing and money laundering. Although Pakistan implemented 26 of the 27 action points by October 2021, it failed to demonstrate adequate prosecution of senior leaders of UN-designated terror groups, which remained a point of contention.
Historically, Pakistan has been greylisted multiple times—first in 2008, again from 2012 to 2015, and then from 2018 until 2022. Greylisting can lead to severe financial consequences, limiting access to international credit, foreign investments, and multilateral funding.
India’s renewed diplomatic push is expected to generate pressure at the FATF and within the broader global financial oversight community, especially as concerns persist about state tolerance of extremist networks within Pakistan’s borders.