India is set to corner Pakistan at the plenary meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) beginning on October 28 over Islamabad’s failure to crack down on the activities of UN-designated terrorist and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, people familiar with the matter said.
The Indian side’s case hinges on the Taliban regime’s recent denial of Pakistan’s claim that Azhar is currently in Afghanistan, the people said on condition of anonymity.
Over the past week, the Indian side has quietly sounded out diplomats from partner countries and key members of the FATF to gain support for its move that is expected to figure at the FATF plenary meeting to be held in Paris during October 28-30, the people said. The Indian side has focused on Azhar, wanted by New Delhi for several terror attacks such as the 2001 Parliament strike, the 2016 Pathankot airbase assault and the 2019 Pulwama bombing, after the Taliban regime dismissed the contention of Pakistani officials that the JeM founder has been in Afghanistan since 2019. Azhar was freed by India with two other terrorists in exchange for the passengers on flight IC 814, which was hijacked from Kathmandu to Kandahar in December 1999. Azhar was also designated as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council in May 2019 after China removed a block to his listing.
He is listed among the most-wanted terrorists in the “Red Book” of Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA).
