France's ambassador to India, Emmanuel Lenain: Pakistan is not fulfilling FATF commitment

France's Ambassador to India, Emmanuel Lenain on Mondy spoke about Pakistan's Financial Action Task Force (FATF) commitment and how they have not been fulfilling it. Lenain emphasised on how there is a need to put Pakistan under strict pressure. In his statement given to a news agency, he said, "Nobody can say Pakistan is fulfilling its commitment. There is a need to keep the pressure on Pakistan. We are very strict on that and it is not an issue which we take lightly." 

Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India on being asked about Pakistan and its FATF commitment: No body can say Pakistan is fulfilling its commitment. There is a need to keep pressure on Pakistan. We are very strict on that and it is not an issue which we take lightly. https://t.co/2NX7vH5dJT

— ANI (@ANI)

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Lenain speaks on CAA

During his interaction, Emmanuel Lenain spoke about the ongoing protests over Citizenship Amendment Act. Emmanuel specified France's stand on the matter and stated that the Citizenship Amendment Act is India's internal matter and how France supports India on the matter. Earlier on December 13, Lenain had stated that no government of another country should interfere in the domestic affairs of India. He said, "We are aware of the ongoing debate in India on CAB and NRC. But I do not think another government should interfere in the domestic affairs of India`, Ambassador of France to India, Emmanuel Lenain said.

Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India: #CitizenshipAmendmentAct is an internal matter of India and we respect that. (file pic) pic.twitter.com/VZFTcvWlpt

— ANI (@ANI)

The French Ambassador to India also spoke in favour of India's bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Talking further about resuming the pending discussions over Free Trade Agreement between India-EU he said, "Our position is clear that we are ready to resume discussions on FTA. It needs to be a meaningful agreement."

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What is FTA?

A free trade agreement (FTA) is an agreement between two or more nations to reduce barriers to imports and exports among them. Under an FTA policy, goods and services can be bought and sold across international borders of signatories with little or no government tariffs, quotas, subsidies, or prohibitions to inhibit their exchange. India has a few FTAs, among them with countries like Sri Lanka, Japan, South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) bloc.

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(With inputs from agencies)