India to Challenge Pakistan on Masood Azhar at FATF Meeting
As the FATF plenary approaches, India plans to confront Pakistan over its handling of terrorist Masood Azhar, amid conflicting claims from the Taliban.
India will address Pakistan's failure to act against Masood Azhar at the FATF plenary from October 28-30.
The Taliban has contradicted Pakistan's claims regarding Azhar's presence in Afghanistan, raising further scrutiny.
Concerns extend to JeM's fundraising methods, including digital channels and alleged ties to Azhar's family.
India is gearing up to confront Pakistan during the upcoming Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary scheduled for October 28 to 30 in Paris. The focus will be on Pakistan's lack of verifiable actions against Masood Azhar, the chief of the United Nations-designated terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). This confrontation has gained urgency following the Taliban's rejection of Pakistan's assertion that Azhar crossed into Afghanistan in 2019, casting doubt on Islamabad's narrative regarding its inability to apprehend the wanted terrorist.
The situation has escalated as India aims to highlight the discrepancies between Pakistan's claims about Azhar's whereabouts and the Taliban's denial of his presence in Afghanistan. This scrutiny comes at a time when Pakistan is attempting to prove its compliance with international obligations concerning counter-terror financing, despite ongoing concerns about its enforcement of sanctions against designated terrorist leaders and their support networks.
Masood Azhar has been included in Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) 2026 Red Book of most-wanted terrorists, with a reward of PKR 7 million (approximately Rs 70 lakh) for information leading to his arrest. However, this listing has not alleviated India's apprehensions regarding Pakistan's commitment to genuinely pursuing Azhar. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs has dismissed the bounty as a superficial gesture, insisting that Pakistan must take real action against terrorism rather than merely issuing statements that New Delhi views as ineffective.
The implications of Azhar's status extend beyond his whereabouts to the financial mechanisms allegedly employed by JeM to sustain its operations. Reports indicate that the group has increasingly utilized digital wallets and mobile payment platforms for fundraising, with some wallets linked to Azhar's family members. This raises significant questions about the effectiveness of existing monitoring systems in identifying financial activities associated with designated terrorists. Investigators have also flagged potential use of cryptocurrency to facilitate transactions outside traditional banking channels, complicating efforts to trace funds.
As the FATF plenary approaches, India is poised to scrutinize Pakistan's enforcement record on terrorist financing. The key issue will be whether Pakistan's stated commitments translate into tangible actions against individuals like Azhar and the financial networks supporting groups such as JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The outcome of this confrontation could have significant implications for Pakistan's standing in the international community and its ongoing battle against terrorism.
