ISLAMABAD, 23 June 2021, (TON): The Asia Pacific Group (APG), a regional affiliate of the Paris-based FATF , on Money Laundering in its second follow-up report on Mutual Evaluation of Pakistan released here downgraded the country on one criterion and kept Pakistan on "Grey List".

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in a ststement here in Islamabad has said that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has no justification to keep Pakistan on its grey list.

Earlier this month, APG on Money Laundering improved Pakistan’s rating on 21 of the 40 technical recommendations of the FATF against money laundering and terror financing, but retained it on ‘Enhanced Follow-up’ for sufficient outstanding requirements.

The outcomes of the FATF Plenary will be published on Friday, 25 June 2021, at the close of the meeting. However, the report had said Pakistan was re-rated to ‘compliant’ status on five counts and on 15 others to ‘largely compliant’ and on yet another count to ‘partially compliant’. Overall, Pakistan was fully ‘compliant’ with seven recommendations and ‘largely compliant’ with 24 others. The country was ‘partially compliant’ with seven recommendations and ‘non-compliant’ with two out of total 40 recommendations. All in all, Pakistan was compliant or largely compliant with 31 out of 40 FATF recommendations.

Under the German Presidency of Dr Marcus Pleyer, delegates representing 205 members of the Global Network and observer organisations including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units will take part in the virtual meeting of the FATF Plenary.

KABUL, 23 June 2021, (TON): Taliban fighters took control of a key district in Afghanistan’s northern Kunduz province and encircled the provincial capital, police said, as the insurgent group added to its string of recent victories on the battlefield.

Inamuddin Rahmani, provincial police spokesman, said “fighting around Imam Sahib district began late on Sunday and by mid-day the Taliban had overrun the district headquarters and were in control of police headquarters.

Taliban were within a kilometre of Kunduz, the provincial capital but had not entered into the city, he said, although there were reports of small bands of Taliban near the outskirts and residents trying to leave for Kabul.

Dozens of districts have fallen to the Taliban since May 1, when US and Nato troops began their final departure from Afghanistan. Like Imam Sahib district in northern Kunduz, their significance often lies in their proximity to roads and major cities.

Imam Sahib is strategically located near Afghanistan’s northern border with Tajikistan, a key supply route from Central Asia.

GENEVA, 23 June 2021, (TON): More than 40 countries led by Canada voiced grave concerns at the UN Human Rights Council Tuesday about China’s actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Tibet, triggering a fierce backlash from Beijing.

The widely anticipated joint statement had been in the pipeline for several days and was delivered on day two of the 47th session of the council in Geneva.

Canada’s ambassador Leslie Norton said “we are gravely concerned about the human rights situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.”

The statement was backed by Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and the United States, among others.

Beijing must allow UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet and other independent observers “immediate, meaningful and unfettered access” to Xinjiang, and end the “arbitrary detention” of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, it said.

It said “credible reports indicate that over a million people have been arbitrarily detained in Xinjiang and that there is widespread surveillance disproportionately targeting Uyghurs and members of other minorities and restrictions on fundamental freedoms and Uyghur culture.”

YANGON, 23 June 2021, (TON): Authorities and military sources said that four protesters and at least two officers were killed as Myanmar soldiers battled an anti-junta civilian militia with small arms and grenades in the country’s second city.

Fighting has flared across Myanmar since the February coup as people form “defense forces” to battle a brutal military crackdown on dissent, but clashes have largely been restricted to rural areas.

Acting on a tip-off, security forces raided a house in Mandalay’s Chan Mya Tharsi township, the junta’s information team said in a statement, and were met with small arms fire and grenades.

Two officers were killed during the raid, military sources said, and at least ten were wounded.

A junta spokesman said in a statement “four terrorists were killed and eight arrested in possession of homemade mines, hand grenades and small arms.

“We could hear artillery shooting even though our house is far from that place,” a Mandalay resident said.

Another four members of the self-defense group were killed when the car they were attempting to flee in crashed, the spokesman said, without providing details.

SRINAGAR, 23 June 2021, (TON): Former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mehbooba Mufti has called on New Delhi to launch discussions with Pakistan to resolve issues in the disputed region, likening the move to India’s reported role in the intra-Afghan peace talks in Qatar.

Mufti, who is also president of the People’s Democratic Party, told a press conference “if they (Indian officials) can go to Doha and talk to the Taliban, they should have a dialogue with us and with Pakistan, too, to bring about a resolution.”

Local media reports quoted a senior Qatari diplomat involved in the Afghan peace process as saying that Indian officials were engaged in talks with the Taliban.

Mufti’s remarks came ahead of a meeting called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, summoning major parties from the region to discuss the political roadmap of Jammu and Kashmir.

Seven leading pro-Indian Kashmiri parties, under the banner of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declarations (PAGD), accepted Modi’s invitation.

KHARTOUM, 23 June 2021, (TON): A government statement said that Sudan asked the UN Security Council to meet and discuss a dispute over a giant dam being built by Ethiopia on the Blue Nile.

Ethiopia is pinning its hopes of economic development and power generation on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), while the two downstream countries Egypt and Sudan are concerned about it and seeking a binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam.

Egypt relies on the Nile River for as much as 90 percent of its fresh water and sees the dam as an existential threat. Sudan is concerned about the operation of its own Nile dams and water stations.

The government statement said “Sudan’s Foreign Minister Mariam Sadiq Al-Mahdi called on the Security Council to hold a session as soon as possible to discuss GERD and “its impact on the safety and security of millions of people.”

In a letter to the council head, she called on him to urge Ethiopia to stop the unilateral filling of the dam “which exacerbates the dispute and poses a threat to regional and international peace and security,” the statement added.

Ethiopian officials did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

CAIRO, 23 June 2021, (TON): Ninety Egyptians who had been detained at the headquarters of illegal immigration in Tripoli since last Friday have been released, said the head of Egypt’s Diplomatic Mission in Libya’s capital.

Mohamed Tharwat Selim said “the Egyptian Embassy in Tripoli succeeded in resolving the matter in coordination with relevant Libyan authorities.”

He thanked the Libyan interior minister, officials and local authorities for their efforts, which Selim said “reflect the close relations between the two countries.”

He added that most of those released were from Minya Governorate.

DOHA, 23 June 2021, (TON): The bosses of some of the world’s biggest oil companies said crude prices are likely to keep rising because a lack of investment will curtail future supply.

The chief executive officers of Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total Energies SE joined major commodity traders and banks in predicting that oil could go as high as $100 a barrel, although they also said volatile markets could drive prices back down again.

The lack of investment is going to exacerbate supply and demand tightness as the economies pick back up again, and then in time we’ll see supply pick up and rebalance, Exxon Mobil Corp.

CEO Darren Woods said at the Qatar Economic Forum. But “in the shorter term probably higher prices” are more likely.

Trading house Trafigura Group said oil could top $100 a barrel over the next year. Bank of America Corp. also forecast this week that prices could jump to that level and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it doesn’t rule it out. Oil has climbed 44% this year as widespread vaccinations increase mobility and boost demand. Benchmark Brent crude was little changed at 2:55 p.m. in New York at $74.90 a barrel.

ISLAMABAD, 23 June 2021, (TON): When US President Joe Biden meets Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chairman Afghan High Peace Council Dr Abdullah Abdullah at the White House this week, it is not just the future of the war-torn country but also Pakistan’s role will be the main talking points.

Ahead of the all-important visit, Pakistan reached out to the Afghan government conveying it in clear terms that the upcoming visit must not be used to blame Islamabad, officials told media.

It is because of this reason that Pakistan’s ambassador to Kabul not only met Afghan leaders from across party lines but Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also interacted with Dr Abdullah as well as his Afghan counterpart Hanif Atmar at the sidelines of the recent Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Turkey.

Officials while speaking on condition of anonymity said that Pakistan fears that spoilers within the Afghan setup may use the upcoming visit of President Ghani and Dr Abdullah to blame Islamabad for the failure.

FM Qureshi at the recent Afghan Track-11 dialogue minced no words when he stated that President Ghani might use the upcoming visit to the White House to blame Pakistan.

NEW DELHI, 23 June 2021, (TON): The Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy will participate in an exercise with a US carrier strike group (CSG) in the Indian Ocean for two days starting Wednesday.

As part of the exercise, Sukhois, Jaguars, IAF refuelling aircraft and warships and maritime patrol aircraft of the Navy will participate in the exercise.

The Navy said that in a statement that its INS Kochi and Teg, along with P8I and MiG-29K aircraft will participate in a Passage Exercise with US Navy CSG Ronald Reagan during its transit through Indian Ocean Region on June 23 and June 24.

The Indian Naval warships along with aircraft from Indian Navy and Indian Air Force will be engaged in joint multi-domain operations with the Carrier Strike Group comprising Nimitz class aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Halsey and Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser USS Shiloh.

The US CSG, the air force said, “is expected to field F-18 fighters and E-2C Hawkeye AEW&C aircraft.”

The exercise will be carried out south of Thiruvananthapuram, on the western seaboard.