Ahead of the crucial meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Pakistan is liaising with the member countries of this global organization to get their support on the 27-point action plan and get out of the falling list.
Aware of the progress, government officials said that the global watchdog would hold a full meeting from October 21 to 23 to combat terrorism financing and money laundering. Last week, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi telephoned his Saudi, Turkish and Malaysian counterparts and briefed them on Pakistan's significant progress on the FATF action plan.
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Malaysia are members of the 39-member FATF and the support of these countries is essential for Pakistan to avoid any negative decision in the plenary meeting. The FATF was not mentioned in the statement issued after the telephone conversation.
Also read this: Pakistan will be removed from the FATF gray list on October 13.
One of the aims of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's telephone conversation with the top diplomats of the three countries was to seek their support at the next plenary session of the FATF. Pakistan is unlikely to be blacklisted, why? It has the backing of China, Malaysia and Turkey, which can veto any such move. Pakistan needs 12 votes to get out of the gray list while Pakistan needs 3 votes to get out of the blacklist.
