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Pak progress acknowledged by majority of FATF members
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan yesterday said that it was ready to reopen the Kartarpur Corridor to facilitate Sikhs in accordance with the policy of respecting all faiths and minorities.
Speaking at a weekly news briefing here, Foreign office spokesperson Asim Iftikhar Ahmed said Pakistan hoped India will respond positively. “On Kartarpur, our policy has been very clear. We value the significance of this corridor and remain strongly committed to its functioning, and support its early reopening,” he remarked.
To a question, he said India was hoodwinking the world about the situation in held Kashmir.
“We know that there are already over 900,000 troops and para-military deployment in held Kashmir, which makes the occupied territory the most heavily militarized zone in the world, and they continue with this policy of subjugating the people of IIOJK through the barrel of the gun,” he said. The spokesperson added: “This is the military siege that has been imposed on the Kashmiri people. The reported investment and development projects in IIOJK, is an attempt by India to divert international attention from its illegal occupation and human rights violations, serious violations of international humanitarian law, war crimes and crimes against humanity in IIOJK.”
India, he said, was trying to portray false sense of normalcy and development in IIOJK. “But the reality on ground is totally different as you have also noted that the Kashmiri people have rejected these attempts. The fact of the matter is that Kashmiris are being suppressed and they are being tormented and are becoming increasingly alienated. Therefore, India will not succeed in misleading the international community on this aspect. Kashmir is an internationally recognised dispute,” he said.
The spokesperson underscored that Pakistan had effectively implemented the Action Plan of 2018 and had already made significant progress to meet the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force. “The progress has been acknowledged by a large majority of members as well as the FATF Presidency. We remain actively engaged with strong political commitment to comply with the requirements,” he maintained.
About the recent terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, he said it was a matter of common concern and “we understand that would be a concern in the first place for the new authorities in Kabul as well.”
He added: “As you know there is expectation not only from Pakistan but also from the international community that the threat of terrorism from Afghanistan needs to be tackled effectively and we hope steps will be taken in this regard. As you know there are spoilers both inside and outside Afghanistan and that is why besides the internal actions in Afghanistan, a regional approach and consensus and cooperative frameworks are essential to more comprehensively tackle this problem for durable peace in Afghanistan.” He said terrorist attacks on the Pak-Afghan border were a serious matter. “We have been raising this concern with the previous governments and if the situation persists, we will naturally continue to take this up with the new authorities. We believe that it is in the interest of both Pakistan and Afghanistan that these elements are effectively taken care of,” he elaborated. To a question about the T20 Cricket World Cup, he said it was very evident that the kind of sportsman spirit and the positive attitude that Pakistan’s team displayed and they have been very mature and graceful in these victories. “It speaks for itself the kind of character this team carries. I think the same goes for our fans. You have drawn comparisons, I am not going to go into that, but it is quite evident that the kind of negative and hateful behaviour that was on display especially after Pakistan India match, that was, indeed condemnable.
We have therefore expressed our concerns on the totally unjustifiable acts of hostility towards Kashmiris and others in India, which is very unfortunate,” he said.