Hammad Azhar defended Pakistan’s performance report at the forum during the joint FATF meeting. Once the meeting in swing, the mood of the FATF could be seen. The body was happy and satisfied with Pakistan’s compliance with its demands.

However, Pakistan’s not-so-friendly neighbor India ended up red-faced when it stood as the only party not happy with Pakistan. “The ongoing meeting went very well. This time the attitude of the US and the European Union countries remained supportive and except India, no other country raised questions on Pakistan’s compliance,” wrote Pakistan’s top publication.

With the contingent still present at the FATF seminar, Pakistan will again, today, defend the country’s stance if needed. “If the joint group of FATF demanded any further documents or annexures of any point, the Pakistani side would be ready to reply to them,”.

India, the FATF, and Pakistan

India has singlehandedly tried to diplomatically isolate Pakistan on the international stage for a very long time. Ever since the Pulwama incident, India has constantly been trying to target its neighbor. Consequently, Pakistan has also fought off the Indian stance and voiced support for the suffering of Kashmiris on every forum.

Moreover, Pakistan requires diplomatic strength to form a lobby against India’s diplomatic heroics. The consensus must be reached on the foreign policy and for the FATF vote, Pakistan will need support.

To avoid being placed in the FATF blacklist, Pakistan needs the support of three major players in the world. However, if Pakistan wishes to come out of the grey-list and end up on the white-list, it will need 12 votes out of a total of 39.