Put Pakistan where it belongs - on FATF grey list: Former Danish Ambassador

Hans India

3 days ago

Copenhagen/New Delhi: Lauding India's Operation Sindoor and the ongoing diplomatic outreach mission, a seasoned diplomat from Denmark on Sunday advocated the international community to take a strong action against Pakistan, including by putting the country back on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for its continuous involvement in terror financing and backing global terror outfits.
Speaking exclusively to IANS, Freddy Svane, the former Danish Ambassador to India, said that it is high time for the world to acknowledge that Pakistan remains the epicentre of terrorism in the region.
"Terror doesn't come out of the blue. It's something that has to be financed, structured and so forth. So, it's a long, concerted action that lies behind all this terror. Therefore, you need to do whatever you can globally, also regionally, to ensure that we don't have financing that will flow into the streams of terror. It has to stop. Pakistan has to be put where it belongs. So, they have to be put on that list, no doubt about that," Svane told IANS.
Svane, a well-travelled and highly experienced diplomat, served as the Ambassador to India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives twice, first from 2010 to 2015 and then in another stint which ended in December 2024. Having spent so much time in India, he witnessed Pakistan unleashing terror on India on several occasions.
"I lived in India, as you all know, for 10 years, over two periods of time. We lived with terror and felt the impact. Obviously, we all knew that Pakistan was behind them one way or another. You might argue that there are different faces in Pakistan, there's the political and also the army. But, when it boils down to terror, there can't be two faces. There's only one ugly face, and we know that Pakistan has been instigating a lot of terror attacks against India. Sadly, with this incident in Pahalgam, the time is really ripe for a conscious joint and coordinated response to terror and thereby also calling out on Pakistan," he said.
Heaping praise on India's ongoing diplomatic outreach to several countries by sending all-party delegations, the former Ambassador believes that New Delhi has sent a very strong message to the world that it will, from now on, not tolerate any heinous act of terrorism sponsored by Pakistan.
"The fact that all-party delegations are sent to countries in various parts of the world just to speak about Operation Sindoor and the atrocities proves that it is time now to stand up against terror and the way in which Pakistan, almost throughout its lifetime, has instigated terror attacks. India has shown that it has grown and is a global player, a very, very important player and that India can take action," Svane remarked.
The former diplomat also met an all-party delegation led by Ravi Shankar Prasad, which was in Copenhagen from May 29-31, to convey India's unwavering stance against terrorism and its resolve to obliterate every trace of it.
"I think it's very important that the message that you are going to spread is listened to, heard, and action is taken on it. Therefore, I am pleased, having also served as Ambassador to India for more than 10 years, that India has on the backdrop of this really, really sad and deadly, inhumane Pahalgam incident, now stands up and speaks against terror. We all need to really move away from words towards actions. Therefore, the decision of the government of India, of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to send a group of parliamentarians across the globe to speak about how do we jointly fight terror is so important and very well received, also here in Denmark," he said
"I asked some of the visiting Indian parliamentarians if it is a new thing, as I had never in my life experienced that India would be sending such all-party delegations across the globe to voice its concerns about terror and the impact of terror. I was told something similar was done decades ago. But the fact that India is now standing up on this is important. It will give India a special role and a special place because India now stands up against terror. That's a new normal, and nobody should be in any doubt of what will happen if terror is not stopped. We are working closely together, as a world and as one big family," Svane added.