India, on Tuesday, dubbed Pakistan's decision to announce a PKR 70 lakh reward for Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as a "gimmick", saying Islamabad should take concrete action against terrorism instead of making announcements that lead to nothing.
Responding to Pakistan's move, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal questioned the credibility of such an announcement coming from what he described as a "state sponsor of terrorism".
"Such gimmicks and attempts at hoodwinking people by Pakistan are nothing new. We have seen similar gimmicks in the past as well," Jaiswal said.
"For a state sponsor of terrorism to make such phoney announcements—we all know how hollow they are. Pakistan must take concrete action rather than make announcements that are ultimately of no consequence," he added.
Pakistan recently increased the reward on Azhar by PKR 20 lakh, taking the total bounty to PKR 70 lakh.
Azhar, the founder and chief of JeM, is wanted in India in connection with several terror cases, including the 2001 attack on Parliament. He was also among the 20 fugitives sought by India from Pakistan, a demand that was renewed following the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 166 people were killed.
Authorities in India have also linked JeM to the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack and the 2019 Pulwama bombing.
Pakistan's announcement comes ahead of the next plenary of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), scheduled to be held in Paris from October 26 to 30. FATF plenary meetings typically examine, among other issues, the efforts made by jurisdictions to address shortcomings in combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
Pakistan was placed under increased monitoring, commonly referred to as the FATF "grey list", in 2018 and remained there until 2022.
It was removed after completing commitments under two FATF action plans agreed in 2018 and 2021. These covered measures including strengthening its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regime and improving the implementation of targeted financial sanctions.
