ISLAMABAD – The relations between United Statesand Pakistan are unlikely to improve any further in near future.
US has set tough conditions for Pakistan to get any relief on the loomingterror watch-list tag by the Financial Action Task Force later this year,The Nation has learnt reliably.
Senior officials at the foreign ministry said the United States haddemanded a direct engagement in the anti-terror operations along thePak-Afghan border as Washington suspected Pakistan of playing a ‘doublegame.’
The officials said the US link> had also urgedPakistan to cooperate with India and punish those responsible for the 2008Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people including severalUSlink> citizens.
US link> Deputy Assistant to the President andNational Security Council Senior Director for South and Central Asia LisaCurtis was in Islamabad on February 26 and 27 to hold meetings with ForeignSecretary Tehmina Janjua, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Chief of theGeneral Staff Lieutenant General Bilal Akbar.
Sources said Pak-US ties, FATF link>resolutionby the US link> to place Pakistan’s name on thewatch-list, Afghan issue and the anti-terror campaign were discussed amongother matters during the meetings.
This month, the Financial Action Task Force discussed a USlink>resolution to place Pakistan on the terroristfinancing watch-list. TheFATF link> officialstatement after the meeting did not mention Pakistan but it could still beincluded in the watch-list in June this year. Only Turkey supportedPakistan in the FATF link>meeting in Paris.
The FATF link> is a global body that combatsterrorist financing and money laundering. The 37 permanent members of FATFlink> include: Argentina, Australia, Austria,Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, European Commission, Finland,France, Germany, Greece, Gulf Co-operation Council, Hong Kong, Iceland,India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Luxembourg, Malaysia,Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Russian Federation,Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdomand the US link> . Israel and Saudi Arabia haveobserver status.
Pakistan has already agreed to implement FAFT’s Action Plan. Placement onthe watch-list will be a blow to both Pakistan’s economy and its strainedrelations with the US link> .
Before the FATF link> meeting, the USlink> said it was suspending security assistanceto Pakistan targeting the Coalition Support Fund. State DepartmentSpokesperson Heather Nauert clarified that Pakistan will be able to receivethe suspended funding if it took ‘decisive actions’ against the HaqqaniNetwork and the Afghan Taliban.
Pakistan said it was not dependent on US link> aidfor its war on terror. The foreign ministry said Pakistan had fought thewar against terrorism largely from its own resources “which has cost over$120 billion in 15 years.” Islamabad argued the money it had received fromthe US link>was mainly reimbursements forsupporting US-led coalition forces after they invaded Afghanistan in 2001.