A recent report by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has exposed Pakistan’s role in the development of ballistic missiles.
In its latest report on ‘Complex Proliferation Financing and Sanctions Evasion Schemes’, FATF, citing a cargo shipment seized by Indian customs authorities in 2020 that was bound for Port Qasim in Karachi, highlighted how dual-use goods, including critical equipment for ballistic missile technology, were mis- declared in export documents and directly linked to Pakistan’s National Development Complex.
“In 2020, Indian custom authorities seized an Asian-flagged ship bound for Pakistan. During an investigation, Indian authorities confirmed that documents mis-declared the shipment’s dual-use items. Indian investigators certified the items for shipment to be ‘Autoclaves’, which are used for sensitive high-energy material and chemical coating of missile motors. The sensitive items are included in dual-use export control lists of the Missile Technology Control Regime, India, and other jurisdictions,” News18 quoted FATF.
The latest FATF report comes at a time when the global watchdog has stepped up its monitoring of state-sponsored terrorism in Pakistan following the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in which 26 innocent tourists were killed.
Earlier, the global watchdog acknowledged and condemned the Pahalgam attack and said that the terrorist attack could not occur without money and the means to move funds between terrorist supporters.
“The FATF notes with grave concern and condemns the brutal terrorist attack in Pahalgam on 22 April 2025. This, and other recent attacks, could not occur without money and the means to move funds between terrorist supporters,” News18 quoted FATF.
After FATF damning reports, India is likely to make an effort to bring Pakistan onto the grey list.
Notably, the FATF plenary had removed Pakistan from the grey list in October 2022, with the reminder that Pakistan would continue to work with the Asia Pacific Group (APG) to further improve its Anti-Money Laundering/Counter-Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) system.
