India is preparing an initiative at the Financial Action Task Force to place Pakistan once again under enhanced monitoring over concerns related to terrorist financing.
New Delhi is expected to submit video material and other evidence at the FATF plenary scheduled for October. The Indian case will argue that organisations operating from Pakistani territory continue to receive support and make use of the country's financial networks.
Pakistan was removed from the FATF grey list in October 2022 after completing a 34-point action plan. The measures included legislative and operational reforms, stronger anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing controls, and closer monitoring of suspicious transactions and politically exposed persons.
Countries placed on the grey list are subjected to increased scrutiny and periodic reviews aimed at correcting strategic weaknesses in their systems for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing. Inclusion can also complicate access to funding from international financial institutions.
India may present footage showing senior Pakistani military and intelligence officials attending funerals of militants killed during Operation Sindoor. New Delhi considers those appearances part of a broader body of material linking state actors with gatherings connected to militant organisations.
The effort comes as Vivek Agarwal, a senior Indian official, has been appointed vice-president of the FATF. India is expected to use the October meeting to seek greater scrutiny of Pakistan's handling of non-state armed groups and the financial channels available to them.
The outcome will depend on whether FATF members conclude that Pakistan again meets the threshold for enhanced monitoring. Islamabad's current relationship with the United States and its effort to present itself as a diplomatic intermediary may also influence the wider political environment surrounding the decision.
