New Delhi: In what could provide India much needed ammunition to push Pakistan back into the ‘grey list’, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – a global anti-money laundering watchdog – has now corroborated India’s claim that Pakistan smuggled in critical equipment for ballistic missile development, disguised as industrial machinery, in 2020.
The incident relates to checks carried out on a Hong Kong-flagged vessel at Gujarat’s Kandla port in that year.
In February 2020, acting on intelligence inputs, Indian authorities intercepted the MV Da Cui Yun that had departed from China’s Jiangyin port. Onboard was a pressure chamber – an autoclave – about 35-40 feet long, hidden under false documentation. The ship was en route to Karachi’s Port Qasim.
FATF has now said that the intercepted cargo – mislabelled as industrial machinery – was actually equipment critical for ballistic missile development and was headed to Pakistan’s National Development Complex (NDC). The NDC is known to be involved in the country’s missile development. The FATF confirmed that the Bill of Lading exposed this link.
This revelation comes as FATF is stepping up its focus on state-sponsored terrorism and the movement of funds used to support such activities. The report specifically warns against proliferation financing – when countries or non-state actors secretly acquire technology and materials for weapons of mass destruction.
“The proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and related financing represents a significant threat to global security and the integrity of the international financial system,” the report states.
FATF, in an unusually strong statement, had condemned the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and warned that such events can’t happen “without money and the means to move funds between terrorist supporters.”
The FATF report will help India in highlighting Pakistan’s role in facilitating such activities on the global stage. It will be part of the dossier India submits at the Asia Pacific Group in August and the FATF plenary in October. The aim is to make a case for Pakistan’s return to the grey list – a category reserved for countries that fail to effectively monitor or act against terror financing and money laundering.
