Agencies
NEW DELHI: China backed down from speaking for Pakistan at a recent international meeting on terror because it didn't want to "lose face by supporting a move that's doomed to fail", official unnamed sources told Dawn newspaper.
At first, so sure was Pakistan of China's support in dissuading the US and others from putting it on a terror funding watchlist that its foreign minister even tweeted saying he was "grateful to friends who helped". Days later, foreign minister Khawaja Asif and Pakistan had egg on their face, as reports came in that China remained neutral.
What happened?
Apparently, at first, China did oppose the move to put Pakistan on what's called a 'grey list' of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). It joined Turkey and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - represented by Saudi Arabia which wasn't a member in and of itself - in its support for Islamabad, said Dawn.
Soon after, though, the US pushed for an unprecedented second discussion on Pakistan, which was held on February 22, said the Dawn report. And by then, it convinced Saudi Arabia to accept a quid pro quo - 'We will give you full FATF membership if you drop your support for Pakistan' |
