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India congratulates China on election to FATF

India on Sunday congratulated China on being elected as the Vice-President of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and hoped it…

India congratulates China on election to FATF

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar (Photo: Facebook/File)

India on Sunday congratulated China on being elected as the Vice-President of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and hoped it would uphold and support the objective and standards of the inter-governmental body in an impartial way.

The FATF is a 37-nation member body and works as a global watchdog to combat money laundering and terror financing.

In a tweet, Ministry of External Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, ‘’Congratulations to China on its election as Vice President of Financial Action Task Force at the FATF plenary meeting on February 23, 2018. We remain hopeful that China would uphold and support the objectives and standards of FATF in a balanced, objective, impartial and holistic way.’’

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This came a day after Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale visited Beijing and met senior ministers. The two countries decided to address differences between them on the basis of mutual respect and sensitivity for each other’s concerns.

China’s election to the FATF is significant significance as Pakistan is set to be put in June in the FATF’s grey list, which brings countries under the scanner for not implementing the body’s objectives.

At the recent FATF plenary in Paris, China did a volte-face and did not oppose Pakistan being put in the FATF’s grey list which names countries for not implementing the body’s objectives. Three votes from the FATF’s 37 members are needed for a country not to be put in the grey list. China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, leading the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that votes as one bloc, were against Pakistan being put in the grey list.

However, the US managed to prevail upon Saudi Arabia not to stop Pakistan being put in the grey list while New Delhi worked out a deal with Beijing, assuring China of its support for the FATF vice-presidency.

Though it did not include Pakistan in the nine nations named for the grey list, the FATF decided that Pakistan will be put in the grey list in June.

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