• India made “concerted push” to place Pakistan back on grey list.
• China took firm stance, advocating for continued relief, say sources.
• Sources say member states’ support undermined India’s efforts.

India suffered a diplomatic setback in its bid to have Pakistan re-listed on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list amid “strong opposition from member states”, sources said on Saturday.

Diplomatic sources told Geo News that the Indian delegation made a “concerted push” to place Pakistan back on the grey list, citing concerns related to financial regulations and counter-terror financing.

However, China took a firm stance in Pakistan’s favour, advocating for continued relief and acknowledging the country’s progress on FATF requirements.

Turkiye and Japan also extended their full support to Pakistan, further undermining India’s effort.

Ties between the two nuclear-armed neighbours plunged following a recent standoff over the killing of 26 tourists in Pahalgam, Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, that New Delhi blamed on Islamabad.

Pakistan categorically rejected the allegation while offering a transparent probe into the incident, and drew the international community’s attention to Indian proxies involved in terrorism inside the country.

Following India’s unprovoked attacks, Pakistan armed forces launched a large-scale retaliatory military action, named “Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos” and targeted several Indian military installations across multiple regions.

Pakistan downed six IAF fighter jets, including three Rafales, and dozens of drones. After at least 87 hours, the war between the two nuclear-armed nations ended on May 10 following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire.

In October 2022, the FATF — a global money laundering and terrorism financing watchdog — removed Pakistan from a list of countries under “increased monitoring”, also known as the “grey list”.

Islamabad has played an active role in promoting the principles and purposes of the UN Charter and has made significant contributions to international peace and security, including its role as one of the leading troop-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions across the world. It was elected to the UN Security Council in June 2024 and replaced Japan in the Asian seat.

Pakistan is one of the worst victims of terrorism for over two decades, as the country has lost more than 80,000 lives.

Pakistan has time and again raised the issue of India sponsoring and backing terrorist groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) to carry out attacks inside Pakistan.