Since the launch of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistan has become a prime target of propaganda and negativity by its opponents. The opponents of CPEC are encouraging multiple institutions and agencies to undermine CPEC. There is a broader consensus among Pakistani intelligentsia that FATF is one of them, which had been deployed to force Pakistan to curtail CPEC and undermine its relationship with China. The assumption/argument is based on historical facts. A bird-eye view analysis of FATF’s interventions in Pakistan during the last two decades reveals a very interesting story. Whenever Pakistan signed some major program with China or Pakistan-China introduced a new policy or vision to strengthen their bilateral relationship, FATF came into play. The story started with the signing of the Energy Framework and Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2006. The energy framework was designed to help Pakistan to meet future needs of energy, which later on become part of CPEC. On the other hand, FTA opened many avenues for Pakistani products in Chinese markets. Unfortunately, these agreements were followed by the grey list of FATF in 2008. Somehow Pakistan managed to break the web of FATF and came out of the grey list. However, soon after China-Pakistan’s initial talks of further strengthening bilateral relations, Pakistan was put on the grey list by FATF in 2012. Once again Pakistan had to put a lot of effort into coming out of the grey list. Fortunately, Pakistan was able to come out of the grey list in 2015, but opponents did not stop there. They once again started to lobby against Pakistan, and they successfully put Pakistan back on the grey list. It happened at a time when CPEC gained momentum and started to help Pakistan tackle its issues. .A bird-eye view analysis of FATF’s interventions in Pakistan during the last two decades reveals a very interesting story. The sequence of putting Pakistan on the grey compels us to think that it is not a coincidence. Rather, it is a well-planned strategy to snub investors and to contain the China-Pakistan relationship and the same is true in the case of CPEC. Besides, FATF always put Pakistan in the grey on the basis of self-assumed perceptions like terror financing or money laundering. A deep dive into allegations indicates that FATF was never able to provide any evidence to substantiate its allegations but continued to grill Pakistan. Pakistan always asked FATF, if you have evidence then please share it with us. Pakistan told FATF that it is in our interest, as it will not only help to curb money laundering but also recover its lost money. Besides, Pakistan was also asking developed countries to share data. Unfortunately, neither FATF nor developed countries shared data. On the contrary, it is now a proven fact that many Western institutions were involved in money laundering. The FinCEN leak is the most recent example on this front. West is also considered heaven for illegal money, which is evident from the Paradise Papers, Panama Papers, etc. The grey list always disturbed Pakistan. The allegations were levelled against Pakistan at a time when Pakistan was facing the wrath of terrorism as a frontline ally. Pakistan was losing human lives every day and the economy was going down. Pakistan was unable to understand, why our allies were treating Pakistan like this. Why have they unleashed FATF against Pakistan, at a time when Pakistan was bleeding to save the peace of the world? Instead of helping Pakistan, they chose to penalize Pakistan for sacrifices and economic losses. The answer is simple, they did not want Pakistan to strengthen its relationship with China. They expedited their efforts after the launch of CPEC. After the launch of CPEC, the opponents came up with a new strategy. First, they run a smear campaign on the media. They declared Pakistan as an unsafe destination for investment. They created fear among the business community to force them to stop investing. Second, the IMF started to tighten its grip on the Pakistani economy. Third, FATF once again came forward to level allegations of terror financing and money laundering. It was happening, despite the fact that Pakistan offered all sorts of sacrifices. Against this backdrop, we can conclude that the real purpose of FATF was to target investment programs in Pakistan and the top priority was CPEC. Therefore, many experts believe that FATF played a major role in drying up investment and damaging economic growth in Pakistan. FATF created fear among the potential investors and trade partners of Pakistan. Western media and think tanks also run campaigns to scare potential investors. They highlighted that if any company invests in Pakistan or trades with Pakistan, they will be in trouble, as Pakistan is on the grey list. It also discouraged the Pakistani diaspora from sending money to Pakistan. Owning to these factors foreign earnings started to fall. Lower foreign earnings led to the depletion of foreign reserves at a faster rate. Thus, Pakistan was lifted with no option except to borrow money from international financial institutions and the private sector of the West. Simultaneously, they also tried to scare Chinese companies. They told Chinese companies that if they invest in Pakistan, they may face challenges in other countries. Why? Because Pakistan is on the grey list and if any Chinese company invests in Pakistan, it will be on the watch list of FATF. Hence, from the above discussion, it can be inferred that the FATF slowly poisoned the Pakistani economy. Since 2008, FATF systematically damaged Pakistani reputation and discouraged investment in Pakistan and trade partnerships. It ultimately resulted in an economic and financial crisis. That’s why many policymakers believe FATF is one of the major reasons for the current economic and financial crises in Pakistan. Unfortunately, opponents of CPEC are trying to use this situation to propagate against CPEC investment. In conclusion, from the above discussion, we can easily understand that Pakistan is under immense pressure to curtail CPEC. Otherwise, Pakistan will have to face the wrath of its opponents. They will never allow Pakistan’s economy to flourish and put all efforts into undermining the China-Pakistan relationship. According to them, to encircle China, Pakistan must be neutral, if not part of the anti-China nexus. For that purpose, Pakistan must be brought to its knees through economic, political, and social turmoil. In this context, it is advised that China-Pakistan should work to further strengthen their relationship. The first step would be to enhance communication and coordination. It is needed to kill any confusion. Second, the people of Pakistan look at China as a trusted friend. A friend who can help Pakistan to come out of crisis and pursue the dream of prosperity. Thus, people expect that in these testing times, China will stand with Pakistan, as always. The good thing is that China is cognizant of this reality and is trying to work with Pakistan to find reasonable solutions. Lastly, let’s hope the opponents can understand that this mindset will not help solve global problems, but cooperation can help to solve problems. The writer is COO Zalmi Foundation