Rehman Urges FATF Chief To Take Action Against India For Nuclear Proliferation

Rehman urges FATF chief to take action against India for nuclear proliferation

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 3rd Jun, 2021 ) :Institute of Research and Reforms (IRR) Chairman Senator A Rehman Malik Thursday urged Financial Action Task Force (FATF) President Dr Marcus Pleyer to take serious notice of the continuous nuclear proliferation by India and probe into the incidents under FATF rules of financing proliferation.

Addressing a press conference, he said he had written a letter to the FATF chief to bring in his notice a heinous crime of financing proliferation citing recovery of some 7.1 kg of highly enriched uranium from two Indian citizens on May 6, 2021 in Mumbai.

He asked the FATF chief to take action against India for this gross violation of nuclear proliferation.

He said according to IRR, it was not the first time that such a highly radioactive substance had been seized by the Indian police in recent years, but there were many more cases of nuclear proliferation which were not reported by India.

Rehman Malik wrote that the theft of uranium and the plan to sell it was a source of concern about nuclear safety and security, not only for India but also for the whole world. "It is not yet known as to who was the intended customer(s) was, yet there are possibilities that a black market of nuclear material is thriving in India, which might be connected to international players, non-state actors, or terrorists," he added.

He said the seized uranium could have been trafficked to non-state actors or terrorists, which needed to be investigated.

"It must be mentioned here that it cannot happen without the active connivance of state operators hence India has proved itself as an irresponsible state and kept lose control of nuclear materials," the letter reads.

Rehman Malik, in his letter, referred the 2010 FATF's Guidance on Counter Proliferation Financing that defines "Proliferation Financing" that "the act of providing funds or financial services which are used, in whole or in part, for the manufacture, acquisition, possession, development, export, trans-shipment, brokering, transport, transfer, stockpiling or use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and their means of delivery and related materials (including both technologies and dual use goods used for non-legitimate purposes), in contravention of national laws or, where applicable, international obligations." He said on April 28, 2004 the UN Security Council adopted UNSCR 1540, which was established to prevent non-state actors from acquiring nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons, their means of delivery, and related materials. The resolution filled a gap in international law by addressing the risk that terrorists might obtain, proliferate, or use WMDs, he added.

Answering to a question, he said he was concerned about the situation in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of US troops without a comprehensive withdrawal strategy.

He said that he foresaw the civil war in Afghanistan if the world powers did not work together for peace and stability there.

He said Pakistan had played the most important and key role in the Afghanistan peace process as COAS General Bajwa was determined for peace in Afghanistan.

He condemned the Indian forces brutalities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIJOK) and urged the international community to break silence on the plight of Kashmiris.