While reiterating his call for an end to Pakistan's proxy war in Afghstan, former Canadian Ambassador Chris Alexander has called for Islamabad to be blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) while stating that the Imran Khan government continues to support Taliban and other terror outfits.
"Afghstan will be at peace only when Pakistan's military ends its covert proxy war. Those supporting Taliban & other violent groups should face sanctions, as Russian leaders now do for their continuing war in Ukraine. Pakistan should be on the @FATFNews (FATF) Black List. #EndProxyWar," the former Canadian envoy wrote in a tweet.
Along with the tweet, he shared an article from Tolo News that reported that 79 people have been killed in Afghstan in a week.
In an interaction with the former envoy, one of the users on the micro-blogging site wrote that the people of Pakistan must not suffer the actions of the military and the intelligence agencies. "Put Pakistan military and intelligence agencies in blacklist don't put the country in blacklist because it's not the people's fault what the military is doing in the neighbouring countries," the user wrote.
The former envoy, in reply, said that the decisions taken by the FATF apply to the whole country. "Fair point, but FATF decisions apply (to) the whole country. Economic & other sanctions could be applied to specific individuals & institutions," Alexander wrote.
Pakistan has been long blamed for providing support to Taliban terrorists in Afghstan. It is no secret that scores of top Afghan Taliban leaders are hiding in Pakistan.
In a recently published paper, Alexander wrote: "Pakistan's military supports the Taliban as part of a national strategy for Afghstan and Kashmir that Pakistan has pursued consistently since 1947 when Kabul voted against Pakistan's membership in the United Nations."
In December last year, a series of videos had surfaced showing senior Taliban leaders meeting their followers and Taliban fighters in Pakistan.
The Canadian diplomat -- earlier this month-- in an interview with Tolo News said that Pakistan's army, particularly the country's powerful military intelligence, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), "equips the Taliban" and sends them to wage war against the Afghan government.
In the videos, Taliban deputy leader Mullah Abdul Gh Baradar, the head of the Taliban political office, was seen holding a briefing with the Taliban cadre on the Afghstan peace negotiations and acknowledging the presence of the Taliban's top leadership in Pakistan.
In December, former Pakistan senator Afrasiab Khattak said Pakistan is using the Taliban as a "tool" for its dominance in Afghstan under the pretext of strategic depth.
The peace negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban began in the Qatari capital of Doha back in September. In early December, Kabul and the Taliban announced that they had agreed on the framework of the talks, allowing for discussions to now be held on substantive issues. Little progress, however, has so far been made since then.
Global terror financing watchdog, FATF, in February this year, had retained Pakistan on its "grey list" till June after concluding that Islamabad failed to address its strategically important deficiencies, to fully implement the 27 point action plan that the watchdog had drawn up for Pakistan.
( With inputs from ANI )
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