(Image source from: India Today)

India has welcomed the decision by a global watchdog that placed Pakistan in a list of countries on Saturday that are tracked for preventing terror financing.

The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, welcomed the Grey Listing of Pakistan by the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and expressed expectancy that Pakistan will prevent terror acts emanating from its territory.

"We hope that the FATF Action plan shall be complied with in a time-bound manner and credible measures would be taken by Pakistan to address global concerns related to terrorism emanating from any territory under its control," said the spokesperson of the MEA in a statement after Islamabad was placed in the Grey List of FATF on Friday.

Being on the Grey List will need Pakistan to run into additive guarantees while borrowing finance from the international donors like the IMF and other such entities. Pakistan was on the Grey List of FATF between 2012-15 but was taken off the list. But subsequent terror attacks on Indian targets by groups like LeT and Jaish E Mohammed revived the international demand to place the country back in the list.

Reminding Pakistan's commitments to prevent further terrorist attacks, India urged Islamabad to control the armed terror groups operating from its soil.

"Pakistan has given a high-level political commitment to address the global concerns regarding its implementation of the FATF standards for countering terror financing and anti-money laundering, especially in respect of UN-designated and internationally proscribed terror entities and individuals. (But) The freedom and impunity with which the designated terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and entities like Jamaat-Ud-Dawaa, Lashkar-E-Tayaba, Jaish-E-Mohammed continue to operate in Pakistan is not in keeping with such commitments," said the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.

The judgment to place Pakistan back in the Grey List was taken following the Plenary session of FATF in February, but it eventually came into force on Friday. Pakistan had activated diplomatic channels to forestall the listing but Islamabad could not prevent the latest decision by the FATF.

By Sowmya Sangam