Pakistan's nuclear posture is purely defensive

Financial Action Task Force is an international body established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7

Questions: Reportedly, Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting is going to take place next week in Paris. What measures Pakistan has taken to avoid being included in the “Grey list”? What are your comments on the drum beating by Indian media regarding Pakistan prior to FATF meeting in Paris? Secondly, in its recent Worldwide Threat Assessment Report, US has referred to Pakistan as a regional security risk, projecting that its nuclear and military build up will imperil the security of its neighbours. Conspicuously, India is not to be found in this report. Your comments please! (Shaukat Paracha - Aaj TV) 

Supplementary Questions: We have seen rather suspicious moves from US, UK, Germany, France and India to once again drag Pakistan into the “Grey List” despite Pakistan’s satisfactory performance in counter-terrorism and money laundering matters. Don’t you think that such moves are discriminatory in nature? Do you also see Indian lobbying at work to punish Pakistan through FATF? (Faisal Raza Khan - 92 News) 

At present, what is our current status and how do you see our future in FATF? (Anwar Abbas - Waqt News) 

Answer: Let me first respond to all the questions on FATF. The FATF is dealt with by the Ministry of Finance and its allied departments and questions related to it may be directed to them. However, I can brief you on the fundamentals. 

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an international body established in 1989 on the initiative of the G7. The primary aim of FATF was to set standards to combat money laundering. In 2001, its mandate was expanded to include countering terrorist financing. Every country goes through a peer based evaluation process called “Mutual Evaluation” for monitoring of compliance with FATF standards. Since we are not a member of FATF, Pakistan’s Mutual Evaluation is conducted by Asia Pacific Group (APG). FATF can take punitive measures against any country for non-compliance by issuing a public statement (black/grey list).

Based on Pakistan’s Mutual Evaluation in 2009, FATF identified “strategic deficiencies” in Pakistan’s AML/CFT regime. In February 2012, Pakistan was listed in FATF’s Public Statement i.e. “grey list”. To overcome these deficiencies, Pakistan agreed to implement FATF Action Plan. As a consequence, the State Bank of Pakistan introduced new rules and guidelines on CFT/AML. Stand-alone legislation on Money Laundering was also enacted by the Parliament. In June 2015, after strenuous efforts, the implementation of the Action Plan was completed and Pakistan was de-listed from FATF’s Public Statement. After the exit, the FATF referred Pakistan to APG due to residuary concerns regarding implementation of UNSCR 1267 sanctions on some entities i.e. (Lashkar-e-Tayibah, JuD, and FIF). 

Pakistan has been continuously reporting to APG on these “residual concerns”. Our latest report was submitted to APG on 6 January 2018. These reports highlighted comprehensive enforcement actions undertaken by the Government of Pakistan to address these concerns. While the APG was analysing our report, on 20 January 2018 the US and UK jointly submitted a letter to the FATF, nominating Pakistan for placement in the Grey List. France and Germany subsequently joined this nomination. 

The objective of raising these new issues seems to be to suddenly raise an alarm on the overall integrity of Pakistan’s AML/CFT framework. The real aim of this politically motivated move is to hamper Pakistan’s economic progress. 

On the second question, we are still reviewing this report, which is an annual exercise on part of the US intelligence community to present a global threat assessment to the Congress. We have consistently maintained that Pakistan’s nuclear posture is purely defensive, in order to deter the aggressive designs of its hostile neighbour in the East. The complete silence of the report on India’s ambitious nuclear programme and delivery system is really surprising and smacks of partisanship. Any credible threat assessment should have cautioned the world about India’s fast growing nuclear stockpiles and development of long-range delivery systems that have ignited a new arms race in our region. 

Question: Now that US and India has joined hands to tighten the noose on Pakistan economically via FATF, and the two are playing a conspicuous and often anti-Pakistan role in Afghanistan, is Pakistan ready to defend itself against these foreign designs? (Salman Hashmi - Forensic Eye) 

Answer: Pakistan is, and will always be, fully capable and prepared to counter any malicious designs. 

Question: Last week, Indian DHM complained that he is summoned to the Foreign Office many times a week, while the Indian External Affairs Ministry summons Pakistani very occasionally. How do you respond to this complain? (Auon Sherazi - Such TV) 

Answer: The responsibility of Pakistan is to effectively and emphatically defend its borders, be they physical, diplomatic, political or intellectual. We have raised the matter of Indian belligerent posture towards Pakistan at various relevant forums and the international community. What India fails to recognise is that unless and until the core issue of Jammu & Kashmir is resolved, as per the aspirations of the Kashmiri people, in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions, there can be no end to conflict in the region. It is imperative for India to internalise the seriousness of the matter and engage in uninterruptable and uninterrupted dialogue with Pakistan. 

Question: Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has recently warned that Pakistan will have to pay for attacks on Indian army camp in IoK. How do you respond to this warning? (Khawaja Nayaar Iqbal - Kashmir Post) 

Answer: We have seen the reports you refer to. India has a knee-jerk tendency to assign unilateral blame without evidence — Pakistan has been blamed for spy pigeons and worse — Pakistan strongly rejects the allegations of certain Indian police and defence officials, and media insinuations in connection with the reported attack on Sunjwan camp in Indian occupied Jammu & Kashmir. It is a well established pattern that Indian officials begin making irresponsible statements and leveling unfounded allegations, even before any proper investigation in any incident has been initiated. 

Edited excerpts from Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson, Mohammad Faisal's weekly briefing with correspondents, 15 February in Islamabad