WASHINGTON – The United States has moved forward against Pakistan and in anew development US has moved to place Pakistan on global terroristfinancing watchlist.

It is reported that US has put forward a motion to place Pakistan on aglobal terrorist-financing watchlist with an anti-money launderingmonitoring group, according to a senior Pakistani official.

Pakistan has been scrambling in recent months to avert being added to alist of countries deemed non-compliant with terrorist financing regulationsby the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a measure officials fear couldhurt its economy.

The United States has been threatening to get tough with Islamabad over itsalleged ties with Islamist militants, and last month President DonaldTrump’s administration suspended aid worth about $2 billion.

Islamabad, which denies assisting militants in Afghanistan and India, hasreacted angrily to U.S. threats of further punitive measures.

A meeting of FATF member states is due to take place next week in Paris,where the organization could adopt the motion on Pakistan.

Pakistan’s de facto finance minister, Miftah Ismail, told Reuters theUnited States and Britain put forward the motion several weeks ago, andlater persuaded France and Germany to co-sponsor it.

“We are now working with the U.S., UK, Germany and France for thenomination to be withdrawn,” Ismail said, speaking by telephone fromEurope. “We are also quite hopeful that even if the U.S. did not withdrawthe nomination that we will prevail and not be put on the watchlist.”

Pakistan was previously on the FATF watchlist from 2012 to 2015.

A senior U.S. official who follows U.S. policy in the region said Pakistanhas “always been selective” in cracking down on militants who use itsterritory as a base.

“It is time for that to stop, and so we are working with our allies, whoalso are affected, to see effective action against groups such as theHaqqanis and elements of the Taliban,” said the official, referring tomilitants operating along the border with Afghanistan.

The FATF, an intergovernmental body based in Paris that sets globalstandards for fighting illicit finance, had previously warned Islamabad itcould be put back on the list without further efforts to crack down on theflow of funds to militants.

Pakistani officials and Western diplomats say being put on the FATFwatchlist could deal a blow to Pakistan’s economy as it would make itharder for foreign investors and companies to do business in thenuclear-armed South Asian nation.

“If you’re put on a terror watchlist, you’re made to go through all the(extra) scrutiny,” Pakistan’s former counterterrorism chief, Khawaja KhalidFarooq, told Reuters. “It can hurt the economy very badly.”

Officials also fear it would be harder and more expensive for Pakistan toborrow money from the international debt markets if it was put on the FATFmonitoring list.

Ismail said the FATF motion focused on Hafiz Saeed, a Pakistan-basedIslamist who India accuses of masterminding the 2008 Mumbai attacks thatkilled 166 people. That suggested the United States had put forward themotion at India’s behest, he said.

“The U.S. has consistently expressed our longstanding concern about ongoingdeficiencies in Pakistan’s implementation of its anti-money laundering andcounterterrorism finance regime,” said a spokesperson from the U.S. Embassyin Islamabad.

The United States was “absolutely not” acting on behalf of India inpressing Pakistan on the issue, the spokesperson said.

“In addition to broader systemic concerns, this also concerns Pakistan’snon-compliance with its commitments under the U.N. Security CouncilResolution 1267,” the spokesperson added.

Resolution 1267 requires all states to freeze the assets of people andorganizations on a list established by the resolution, including Saeed andhis “Islamic charities”. Washington has designated Saeed a terrorist.

Saeed has repeatedly denied involvement in the Mumbai attacks and says thecharitable organizations he founded and controls have no ties withmilitants.

On Monday, Pakistan announced it had amended its anti-terrorism law to banmilitant groups and organizations that are listed as “terrorists” by theUnited Nations, a move seen to be targeting those charities.

Attorney General Ashtar Ausaf told Reuters the law changes approved by thecountry’s president were meant to reflect obligations under the U.N.Security Council charter.

“We have to march with the changing times,” Ausaf said, adding that the newlaws would enable the government to track fundraising activities of all theU.N.-proscribed groups and take punitive action such as freezing theirassets. – Agencies