ISLAMABAD – Pakistan criticised the US for recent actions that Islamabadsaid undermined that very objective, reported *Voice of Americalink>*.link>
“I conveyed to her that the US has done a great disservice to our fightagainst extremism,” Interior Minister, Ahsan Iqbal, said about his meetingwith Lisa Curtis, the US National Security Council’s senior director forSouth and Central Asia. She was on a two-day visit to Islamabad that endedTuesday.
Iqbal was complaining about the recent US push to list Pakistan as acountry that does not have adequate mechanisms to control terrorismfinancing.
As a result of this push, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a globalwatchdog that met in Paris last week, is expected to add Pakistan to itsgray list in June. This could hurt Pakistan’s already flailing economy byadding scrutiny to its financial transactions and increasing its costs ofdoing business internationally.
Iqbal said the move linked Pakistan’s fight against extremism to “the USand Western countries, giving extremist groups a narrative that they arebeing targeted on external pressure”.
He also said the economic impact of the FATF decision would shrink thebudgetary resources for the ongoing security operations in the country.
The FATF move is seen as a way for the US to push Pakistan to change itsbehavior toward regional security issues, particularly Afghanistan.
The US policy for South Asia, which was announced by President Donald Trumpin August of last year, promised to use all instruments of American power,including economic, to get a desired outcome in the region.
Curtis reinforced that message in her meetings this week.
“Curtis urged the government of Pakistan to address the continuing presenceof the Haqqani network and other terrorist groups within its territory, andreiterated the international community’s long-standing concern aboutongoing deficiencies in Pakistan’s implementation of its anti-moneylaundering/counterterrorism finance regime,” said a press release issued bythe US embassy in Islamabad.
Iqbal said the pressure was unlikely to make a difference.
“We have lived through autumn in Pak-US relations many times before. Thiswill also pass,” he said.
Still, both sides seemed to want to work past their differences.
The embassy press release said the US “seeks to move toward a newrelationship with Pakistan, based on a shared commitment to defeat allterrorist groups that threaten regional stability and security, as well ason a shared vision of a peaceful future for Afghanistan.”
In his last briefing, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesman, Mohammad Faisal,said his country was trying to find common ground to work with the US.
Bilateral relations have been tense since the announcement of the SouthAsia policy. US officials blame Pakistan for the instability inAfghanistan, saying Pakistan provides havens to militants who attack NATOand Afghan forces across the border.
Many in Pakistan believe the US does not understand its security concernsvis-a-vis its regional rival India, making cooperation difficult. In hispolicy address, Trump urged India to play a greater role in Afghanistan, amove that was met with alarm in Islamabad.
“The US must have a security framework for the region that addresseslegitimate security concerns of both Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Iqbalmaintained.
US officials say Pakistan’s concerns are overblown.