Pakistan is playing games with FATF The Statesman 22 Sep 2026
Pakistan is playing games with FATF The Statesman 22 Sep 2026
Pakistan recently announced a reward of Pak Rupees Seventy lakhs for information leading to the arrest of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) chief, Masood Azhar, who is a UNSC designated terrorist. The timing appears to indicate that it is aimed at avoiding being questioned by the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) in its forthcoming plenary. Pakistan was last placed on the FATF grey list in 2018 and removed in 2022, after meeting some of its conditions. It has been repeatedly cautioned that exiting the grey list does not provide immunity from monitoring and it will remain under regular evaluation by the Asia Pacific group. Its next detailed audit is due in 2029.
Remaining on the grey list implies that the country has flaws in its money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems. A country on the grey list loses on foreign investment (reportedly around 7%), higher borrowing costs as also multilateral development banks and donor nations are compelled to reassess funding arrangements. It also impacts the country’s global reputation and standing. Pakistan has itself admitted that it lost about USD 38 billion in economic growth and GDP after being placed on the grey list multiple times since 2008. It fears the same being repeated if it is again targeted.
A US Congress report of March this year mentions that 12 out of 15 terrorist groups operating from Pakistan are marked as Foreign Terrorist Organizations by them. Many of them are aimed at India. Since 2018 Pakistan has been designated by the US as a ‘country of particular concern.’ A 2018 UNSC updated list of terrorists, under the UN 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee, included 139 based in Pakistan. Current inputs mention that these are now around a hundred.
The number of terrorists sought by India from Pakistan has been increasing. The number has risen from 1330 in 2021 to 1804 currently, an increase of 35%. Wanted in India for various terrorist incidents, they roam freely in Pak, protected by their security agencies. This indicates the growing terror infrastructure within Pak. Evidently, the country plays host to many of the world’s most dangerous terrorists, whose existence they continue to deny.
The FATF is scheduled to hold its plenary meeting from 26 to 30th October in Paris. Pakistan is desperate to show the global financial body that it is serious in its commitment in countering terrorism. It therefore increased the bounty on Masood Azhar from Rupees fifty to seventy lakhs. It hopes that this would convince the global body of its intent. It is aware that India is watching every move.
Azhar, the founder and chief of the JEM, is wanted in India for multiple crimes, including the 2001 parliament attack and the 2008 Mumbai attack. His group has also been linked to the 2016 Pathankot base attack and the 2019 Pulwama bombing. Pakistan listed Azhar as a wanted terrorist in its Federal Investigation Agency’s Red Book in 2021 and repeated the same in 2026. FIRs have been registered against him in Pakistan in 2020 and 2021, and he has even been declared missing.
Pakistan had claimed that Masood Azhar had left the country for Afghanistan, which Kabul denied. It is known that Azhar is hidden and protected by the Pak army, moved from place to place to prevent being targeted by unknown gunmen. It is reported that Azhar is more secure than Pakistan’s political leadership.
India responded to Pakistan’s actions with the MEA spokesperson mentioning, ‘Such gimmicks and hoodwinking by Pakistan are nothing new. We have seen similar gimmicks in the past as well.’ He added, ‘For a state sponsor of terrorism to make such phoney announcements, we all know how hollow it is. Pakistan must take concrete action and not make phoney announcements.’
JEM operates from Bahawalpur and its base was destroyed by Indian forces in Operation Sindoor. The strike killed 10 members of Azhar’s family as also four of his aides. Reports indicate that the Pak government and the ISI released Pak Rupees 25 crores to rebuild the same. It is currently operational. The JEM is also attempting to raise Pak Rs 3.91 billion to create 313 new markaz for which more than 290 online payment wallets are being used, a fact which cannot be hidden.
Interestingly, the supposedly missing Masood Azhar released a press statement post the Indian strike on Bahawalpur which mentioned, ‘Ten members of my family including five children, my elder sister and her husband, my Islamic scholar nephew, his wife and my niece, in addition to this my old friend Hazifa, his mother and two other colleagues were killed.’ He also announced the timing for the funeral. It is unlikely that the Pak army would have permitted him to be present. Despite this, Pakistan claims it is unaware of Masood Azhar’s whereabouts. Simultaneously, Indian intelligence sources have mentioned that Azhar is currently housed in Nawabshah in Sindh.
In Sept last year, Masood Ilyas Kashmiri, a JEM commander, claimed that orders for military personnel attending the funeral of terrorists killed in Operation Sindoor were given directly by then army chief, now field marshal, Asim Munir. Photographic evidence of senior Pakistan army and police officers as also local politicians being present exist, adding credence to the fact that Pakistan remains a state supporter of terrorism. The irony is that Pakistan is offering money to locate a terrorist who, apart from operating from its soil for decades, is protected by its own security agencies.
It is not that the world is unaware of Pakistan’s support to terrorism as also that its increase in the reward for Masood Azhar is only a smokescreen. Its major advantage for the current is support from the US, especially as it attempts to broker talks between them and Iran.
The reality is that the state supporting terrorism against all its neighbours, India, Afghanistan and Iran is today embroiled in its own internal security crisis. Pakistan’s chances of emerging from the growing menace of freedom movements, in its western provinces, unscathed, is almost non-existent. India has to sit back, bring out the popcorn and watch Pakistan burn, all because of its own flawed policies. The FATF must ignore Pakistan’s drama on Masood Azhar and once again push for initiating steps for its re-entry into the grey list.