BEIJING – China has become the vice chair of the Financial Action TaskForce (FATF), a global body mandated to combat terror financing.

In its plenary meeting in Paris on Friday, the FATF extensively deliberatedon ways to combat terror financing and money-laundering but did not putPakistan on its international terror-financing watch list. It gaveIslamabad time till June to prepare an action plan against terror groupsoperating from Pakistan.

China, Pakistan’s all-weather ally, has repeatedly blocked efforts byIndia, the US and the UK in the UN to designate JeM chief Masood Azhar aterrorist.

The FATF, in a report on Friday, named nine countries with “strategicdeficiencies”. Among the countries identified were Iraq, Syria, Yemen andTunisia. Pakistan was on FATF’s “grey list” from 2012 to 2015.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was set up in 1989 with the primarygoal of setting standards to combat money laundering, but in 2001 itsmandate was expanded to include countering terror financing. It can takeaction such as financial restrictions against any country.

At the FATF plenary meeting, the US and some of its European allies were infavour of placing Pakistan on the list of countries that financiallysupport terrorism.

However, Pakistan has been given time till June to prepare an action planto take action against terror groups operating from its soil followingwhich the FATF would take a call on whether to name it on itsterror-financing watch list.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said the FATF will decide inJune whether to place Pakistan on the “grey list”. The list comprisescountries with strategic deficiencies that pose a risk to the internationalfinancial system.