NEW DELHI – India congratulated China for becoming the vice chair of theglobal body, which is mandated to combat terror financing, and hopedBeijing would “uphold and support” the objective of the watchdog in abalanced and objective way.
On Friday, the FATF placed Pakistan under monitoring in its InternationalCooperation Review Group until June 2018 for compliance of Anti-MoneyLaundering and Combating Finance of Terrorism regulations.
This was possible after Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale travelled toBeijing, and played a role in convincing the Chinese to stop objecting tothe US proposal on placing Pakistan on the grey list.
This came with India’s assurance to China that it will support Beijing’sleadership role in FATF.
Consequently, on Sunday, Ministry of External Affairs’s officialspokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted, “Congratulations to China on itselection as Vice President of Financial Action Task Force at the #FATFplenary mtg. on 23 February 2018. We remain hopeful that China would uphold& support the objectives & standards of FATF in a balanced, objective,impartial & holistic way.”
Kumar’s tweet was clear reflection of the understanding reached betweenGokhale and the Chinese establishment that New Delhi will be supportive ofBeijing’s role.
It was also a display of Delhi expressing gratitude towards Beijing for itsstance at FATF against Pakistan, perceived to be an all-weather ally.
This also marks a beginning of what is being called a “more positiveengagement” with China in the coming months, unlike the last one year or so.
While Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar had visited Beijing in February 2017,the relationship has been on a slide since last April, when the Dalai Lamavisited Arunachal Pradesh.
Efforts are now under way to put the relationship “back on track”, sourcessaid, and Gokhale’s visit to Beijing on Friday was aimed at achieving thatend.
However, tougher issues like China blocking India’s efforts to listJaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar as a “global terrorist” stillremain on the table.