Daily Times

Once again, Pakistan, a country used to self-inflicted pain, is in the news for the wrong reasons. After much confusion and delay, the Pakistan Foreign Office (FO) finally confirmed that in June the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will add Pakistan to its ‘grey list’ of countries for not doing enough to curb terrorist financing and money laundering. Perhaps living in denial, the FO spokesman ruled out the possibility that Pakistan could eventually be placed on the FATF ‘black list’ joining North Korea and Iran. Earlier, the conclusion of the FATF February meeting was described as a victory for Pakistan as the country escaped being grey listed right away with the help of ‘friends’ like China, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.

Undeniably, choking off funds is critical in the battle against international terrorism. It is as important as disrupting and degrading terrorist operations and capabilities. But cutting of terrorists financing has a long way to go. In Pakistan, the terrorists’ financial engine is chugging at full force right under the nose of law enforcement. For example, funds collected in the name of orphans and refugees find their way to jihadists waging war against US and Indian forces in Afghanistan and Kashmir. In this way, funds intended for war and aid become indistinguishable. Therefore, an important priority for Pakistan is to devise an effective way to track the distribution of funds raised by religious charities.

Overall, terrorist groups favour multiple revenue streams. Despite the freezing of substantial terrorist assets in bank accounts worldwide, terrorist groups are increasingly adept at eluding detection through use of cash, sophisticated laundering operations or legitimate front companies. Monetary practices, such as donating to charities and informal money transfer centres (hawala) compound the difficulty in tracking down terrorist financial links. Terrorists rely more on cash, leaving less of a paper trail. The use of intermediaries to smuggle cash and employing decades’ old smuggler routes makes terrorist financing especially hard to track.

Since its creation in 1947, Pakistan has gradually choked in the vise-like grip of reactionary Islam. Society embraced irrationalism, traditionalism, and dogmatism at the expense of tolerance and pluralism. Hate politics along sectarian lines increased manifold

In today’s globalised environment, countries seek less confrontation and offer safe investment opportunities as the way forward to international integration. Therefore, Pakistan’s security is inseparable from the way in which global markets work. However, Pakistan continues to swim against the tide. Time and again, myopic and irrational leadership has led the country down a disastrous path. The writing is on the wall: the country risks international isolation if it doesn’t act decisively against all forms of terrorism. The standard obfuscation and excuses won’t work. Pakistan shouldn’t expect a letup in the pressure applied by western governments on the illicit financing and alleged safe-havens of militant groups.

Stung by the FATF fiasco, Pakistan blamed the US for spearheading the move which also involved Britain, France, and Germany, to add Pakistan to the FATF ‘grey list’. In reaction, Pakistan’s National Security Committee (NSC) endorsed a ‘recalibration of foreign policy’ making it more regionally focused and stated that the fight against terrorism would be dictated by national interests. The committee, which is the highest civil-military coordination forum, further agreed without providing details to launch new initiatives to enhance economic partnerships with ‘friendly countries in the region and beyond’ for win-win cooperation. Continuing in the ostrich mode, the cryptic NSC statement didn’t outline steps to deal with the shortcomings on terrorist financing raised during the FATF meeting. Furthermore, the right forum to debate the important subject of foreign policy recalibration is the elected parliament not the NSC.

Clearly, for Pakistan, peace, security, and freedom require economic strength and social cohesion, not overwhelming military power. In the current global arena, adeptness in identifying and pursuing the national interest is part of this process. Broadly speaking, three imperatives should drive Pakistan’s national interest. First, no compromise on representative democracy and the primacy of the rule of law; second, firm opposition to religious control of the state and politics; third, national interest should be defined through a broad economic and social rather than a narrow security prism. The country must adopt a foreign policy approach that is active, non-threatening, and generally aligned with the economic and security interests of the region.

Since its creation in 1947, Pakistan has gradually choked in the vise-like grip of reactionary Islam. Society embraced irrationalism, traditionalism, and dogmatism at the expense of tolerance and pluralism. Hate politics along sectarian lines increased manifold. This period also marked the beginning of two highly destructive processes: one the erosion of the moral basis of the state of Pakistan, and the other the transformation of Islam into an exclusively political doctrine. As a result, no country in recent times has faced greater adversity and volatility in the face of terrorism and obscurantism. Religious extremism has been responsible for the deplorable violence that has resulted in a heavy toll of human lives in past decades, and the same continues unabated. Instead of resisting change, Pakistan should welcome any assistance from the international community to help it reverse course.

The writer can be reached at shgcci@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, March 3^rd 2018.