Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has reiterated that India is trying to use the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for political purposes and Pakistan will foil its nefarious designs.
In a statement on Monday, the foreign minister said that FATF is a technical forum and it should not be used for political purposes and he has expressed concern in his bilateral talks with his counterparts of different countries.
He said that Pakistan will continue to work to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing in its own interest. He said the programme given to Islamabad by the FATF during the last two years was very difficult to implement but Pakistan did it.
Qureshi said, “Apart from new legislation, we have amended 14 laws and taken administrative steps and China, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Gulf countries have strongly supported us on this issue.”
Referring to the establishment of peace in Afghanistan, he said Pakistan’s refusal to provide bases is in its national interest. He said that Pakistan will continue all possible contributions for establishing peace in the neighbouring country “as we want peace, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan.”
Last week, the minister said that India was making attempts to misuse the forum of the FATF for political purposes and doing propaganda against Pakistan. He added that Pakistan had fulfilled 26 out of 27 recommendations of FATF Action Plan, therefore, there was no justification for the country to remain in the grey list. “Pakistan has fulfilled maximum technical requirements of FATF.”
A portal for overseas Pakistanis, under the supervision of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, has been launched to receive complaints and feedback on the issues faced by the expatriates.
“I have launched the portal to strengthen the relationship between our overseas Pakistanis and missions in the form of feedback, complaints and suggestions. I look forward to personally engaging with diaspora feedback for more efficient service & progress,” the foreign minister said in a tweet on Monday.
Under the Vision Foreign Office Thought Leadership Platform, the pilot phase of the FM’s Portal is initially available for foreign nationals residing in the jurisdiction of five Pakistan missions abroad namely Barcelona, Dubai, Jeddah, London and New York.
The Pakistani community and foreigners can download the Application ‘Foreign Minister’s Portal’ from the Android store from Monday and later on from the iOS store.
The main objective of the Portal is to directly engage with the diaspora by providing them remote access to the missions through modern means of communication.
“This will also help to assess the nature of the issues being faced by overseas Pakistanis leading towards their better resolution, the Foreign Office said.
Gradually, the scale of the Portal will be widened to all Pakistan Missions abroad.