India urges Asian Development Bank to discontinue financial support to Pakistan: Report

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has taken up the issue of the Pahalgam terror attack and the involvement of Pakistan in the barbaric act with Asian Development Bank (ADB) chief Masato Kanda, reports said on Monday.

The diplomatic measures against Pakistan in the aftermath of the Pahalgam massacre have picked up again, with New Delhi requesting the Asian Development Bank to discontinue financial support to Pakistan.

According to NDTV, citing sources, FM Sitharaman took up the matter with ADB chief Kanda in Italy’s Milan, during her visit to attend the 58th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the ADB.

Minister Sitharaman has already discussed the issue with her Italian counterpart and is engaging with several European nations, according to sources.

The ADB’s sovereign portfolio in Pakistan comprises 53 loans and 3 grants totalling $9.13 billion (as of 2024).

According to reports, India is also pushing for Pakistan’s inclusion in the Financial Action Task Force grey list while calling for a review of multilateral funding flows to Islamabad.

This particular action is taken against countries that are lacking in measures to counter money laundering or terrorism. Nations named in the grey list are subject to greater scrutiny, which hits foreign investments there. It also curtails their financial access.

India has taken several diplomatic measures against Pakistan in the aftermath of the April 22 attack in which 26 people were killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, including a freeze on the Indus water treaty, shutting the Attari border, cancelling visas of Pakistan nationals, cutting off trade totally, among others.

Meanwhile, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday amid tension with Pakistan and ongoing preparations for the country’s response to the Pahalgam terror attack. During the meeting, the Defence Secretary is believed to have briefed the Prime Minister about the latest security situation and military preparations, especially on the western frontier.

IANS