‘Will put pressure on Pakistan to fulfil FATF goals’: French envoy

French ambassador to India Emmanuel Lenain said on Monday that his country will continue to put pressure on Pakistan to fulfil its commitment to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

“Nobody 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,” Lenain said, addressing a press conference at his residence in New Delhi.He added that whether Pakistan fulfils its commitment or not will be clear in February, the deadline it has been given.

In October, FATF warned Pakistan that it will be placed on the multilateral watchdog’s blacklist if it fails to improve its counterterror financing operations by February 2020, highlighting the country’s failure to crack down on fund-raising by UN-designated terrorists.

FATF then concluded during its plenary meeting in Paris that Pakistan failed to deliver on 22 out of 27 items in an action plan drawn up after the country was placed in the grey list in June 2018. Inclusion in the black list will entail harsher sanctions and greater global scrutiny of financial transactions, which could hit investments and business.

France is among the countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, which have voiced concerns over Pakistan’s failure to do enough to crack down on terror-financing.

Lenain, who took over as the new French ambassador to New Delhi in September, said terrorism is an area where India and France are cooperating with each, other than areas such as defence, connectivity, space and education, among others.

“The big priority is Indo-Pacific. The partnership between France and India is great and it’s moving in right direction. The goal now is to expand to new areas as decided by our leaders,” Lenain said, adding that France is also committed to assisting India build a robust defence manufacturing industry.

Asked about his views on the amended citizenship act, which has triggered protests across the country, Lenain said, “It is India’s internal matter. India is a democracy and has its rule of law.”

 hindustantimes