FATF: A Challenge for Pakistan in the US-Taliban Peace Talk Scenario (P & R Vol.1 Issue 1)

Pakistan’s active engagement in the US Taliban peace talks might create opportunities for its withdrawal from the FATF list. The next few months promises to be critical. Recently, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Plenary assessed the agreed action plan for Pakistan and the findings don’t look encouraging. Noncompliance with FATF action plan bears the risk of pushing the country toward blacklisting. Pakistan, apparently, is committed to implementing the FATF action plan but things are not as clear as they appear to be. Owing to the peculiar character of the current state of affairs in the regional political economy, even an outright compliance does not augur well for Pakistan. There might be two very important factors that must be taken into consideration. Firstly, in case of compliance, Pakistan’s politicoeconomic relationship with Afghanistan would be compromised. Secondly, the political trust deficit between the countries may widen.