Nawaz’ steps rescued Pakistan from FATF: Dar

LONDON: Former finance minister Ishaq Dar has said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government took a number of effective steps and brought it out of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) and Nawaz Sharif’s clearheadedness against the militant groups made that possible.

Speaking to media here, Dar said when the PML-N took over from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), Pakistan was under FATF purview but the PML-N government lobbied with the world, took a number of actions (including actions promised against the militant groups) and convinced the world that Pakistan was doing more than enough in fighting terrorism. This led to eventual white listing of Pakistan in February 2015.

The former finance minister was speaking outside the Hillingdon Hospital after spending almost 4 hours there as he underwent numerous tests including the special CT Spect of the Spine Cervical. He said the National Security Committee at that time decided that action should be taken against militancy and “we told the FATF that we are taking action and will continue taking actions”.

He said that Imran Khan, Pervez Musharraf, Hameed Gull and Asad Durrani all made statements about the presence of militant groups but Nawaz Sharif’s interview was used out of context in order to target him for dirty political gains.

He said that the National Security Committee has now taken action against Jamaatud Dawa and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation which is vindication of what Mian Nawaz Sharif said over two years ago but that time no heed was paid to his advice and propaganda was run against him. “What NSC has done now is what was recommended to be done 2 years ago to address international concerns.”

Ishaq Dar said that all Pakistani political and religious parties stood behind the armed forces of Pakistan. “We can have our political differences but when it comes to the defence of Pakistan all of us stand united behind our armed forces and no one will be allowed to get away with any kind of misadventure against our motherland. All must remember that Pakistan is a nuclear power which has a robust missile program that is the property of the 220 million people of Pakistan.”

“Pakistan has no link with Pulwama attack. It’s clear that attack on Indian soldiers was carried out by a local Kashmiri. There is an indigenous freedom struggle which has no link with Pakistan. There are no differences amongst Pakistanis when it comes to defence of Pakistan. We are a united nation and there will be no politics when it comes to defending our sovereignty,” said Dar.

He elaborated that Pakistan has suffered the most in war against terrorism and more than 50 thousand Pakistanis, including military, law-enforcing agencies and civilians, have sacrificed their lives. “We suffered losses of more than $130 billion. There were question marks if we will ever be able to restore peace in FATA. Under the leadership of Nawaz Sharif it was decided that Operation Zerb-e-Azb be launched and it resulted in breaking the back of terrorists and eliminating their sanctuaries. I was part of the meeting in June 2014 in which the decision to launch War against Terrorism was taken. We provided additional budget for the operation to the tune of Rs100 billion annually for 4 years. It’s unfortunate that such ludicrous allegations have been made against Pakistan which has made huge sacrifices till date.”

Ishaq Dar said that his doctors have recommended surgery on his affected cervical region but there are risks involved. “My surgeon believes that I should undergo surgery but my family is against the idea because permanent damage and even paralysis could be caused if anything goes wrong even slightly. I am taking medicines and undergoing intense physiotherapy. I have tried acupuncture too but my treatment so far has not worked and my pain has rather intensified. The doctors will look at the results of the CT Spect and other laborious tests conducted today and final recommendations will be made in this regard by a panel soon.”