Rajnath Singh asserts FATF can blacklist Pakistan for terror financing anytime, takes jibe at Imran Khan over glitch in plane used for official event

New Delhi: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) can anytime blacklist Pakistan for terror financing, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday. In August, the Asia Pacific Group of the FATF had put Pakistan in a terror ‘blacklist’ for its failure to curb funnelling of funds to groups responsible for scores of attacks in India.

“The FATF can anytime blacklist Pakistan for terror financing,” he said at the Defence Accounts Department Day event. The defence minister said excessive militarisation and focus on wrong policies without financial progress have resulted in a situation that Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan is not able to make arrangements for a flight to attend a global event.

Singh’s statement came after Khan and his delegation were forced to return to New York after the special jet given to him by the Saudi government developed a technical fault while heading to Islamabad.

Khan, who was to return to Pakistan after his seven-day trip to the US to attend the 74th session of United Nations General Assembly, had to return to New York after the plane developed technical snag minutes after taking off from the Kennedy International Airport.