India to Approach World Bank, FATF to Put Pakistan Back in 'Grey List' Over Terror Funding

New Delhi: India is preparing to provide a dossier to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Pakistan's terror funding record to make a case to re-include the country in its "grey list", sources said on Friday. New Delhi will raise the issue with the global money laundering and terror financing watchdog in an upcoming meeting scheduled for June.

Additionally, India is also planning to approach the World Bank next month to oppose any future funding to Pakistan, reports said.

According to sources, India has enough evidence to show Pakistan's complicity in international drug trade. New Delhi also has proof of Islamabad's role in drug cartels. Sources said the drug money is flowing to jihadist organisations in Pakistan.

FATF's ‘Grey List’ and Pakistan

The FATF's ‘grey list’ includes countries that are actively working with the FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. When the FATF places a jurisdiction under increased monitoring, it means the country has committed to resolve swiftly the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to increased monitoring.

Currently there are 25 nations in the FATF's “grey list”. Pakistan was put in the list in 2018 and faced "increased monitoring" till 2022 when it was removed. However, India has maintained that Pakistan has failed to take sustainable action against terror groups on its soil.

The development comes amid renewed concerns over Pakistan's support to UN-designated terrorist groups, especially after the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22. About 26 civilians were killed in the massacre and The Resistant Front (TRF), Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba's proxy group, claimed responsibility for the attack.

IMF Defends $1 Billion Aid to Pakistan

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has defended its recent $1 billion disbursement to Pakistan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) program, asserting that the debt-laden country had fulfilled all required reform benchmarks.

The loan was released amid heightened cross-border tensions with India, following the Indian military’s Operation Sindoor, a targeted strike on terror hubs in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK).

India had strongly objected to the IMF's financial assistance, questioning the rationale of funding a nation that it claims supports state-sponsored terrorism. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh last week remarked that “the aid to Pakistan is a form of indirect funding to terror.”