India has said that attempts by countries to question the FATF’s credibility reflect their “fear of scrutiny” and asked these nations to stop exporting instability and prevent their territory from being misused for terrorism, in a veiled reference to Pakistan.
India’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Parvathaneni Harish, made these remarks on Monday (June 29, 2026) while addressing a 2026 Counter-Terrorism Week side event titled ‘Joining Forces to Counter Terrorism Financing in the Context of Evolving Threats and Emerging Technologies’.
Also read| No change: On Pakistan and terror financing
“The FATF remains an indispensable pillar of the global counterterrorism financing and anti-money laundering architecture. Its work is technical, evidence-based and rooted in internationally accepted standards. Attempts to question its credibility often reflect fear of scrutiny rather than genuine process-related concerns,” Mr. Harish said.
The event was co-organised by the Permanent Missions of India and France to the United Nations, the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), and the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT).
He said that countries facing adverse assessments should address the identified deficiencies, strengthen domestic enforcement, improve financial transparency, and demonstrate irreversible action against terror-financing networks.
“The answer to FATF scrutiny is not politicised activism in UN forums but credible compliance. States that allow their territory, institutions or financial channels to be misused for terrorism must stop exporting instability and start fulfilling their obligations towards international peace and security,” Mr. Harish said, making a thinly-veiled reference to Pakistan.
Pakistan had been on the FATF grey list since 2018 but was removed in 2022.
Mr. Harish told the event that he is not speaking on the issue of counter-terrorism in the abstract.
“For decades now, my country, India, has confronted cross-border terrorism, and new digital technologies are only making the sources, the methods, and channels used for the flow of assets more complex,” he said.
India has been a member of the influential global body that sets standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing since 2010. Earlier this month, Union Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal was appointed Vice-President of the FATF for the July 2026 – June 2027 period.
Mr. Harish noted that in the current era of technological advancements, crowdfunding platforms and prepaid instruments have become central to the funding infrastructure of global terrorist operations.
“Crowdfunding from radicalised individuals for terrorist financing and use of tokens, stars and points in social media platforms by terrorists to store and transfer their value are real issues of deep concern for all of us,” he said.
Terrorists are technology neutral, and they adopt whatever is cheap, fast, lightly-regulated, and whatever works for them, he said.
“Our response must be a risk-based architecture anchored in the FATF standards,” Mr. Harish said, adding that history shows that critical terrorist financing risks have not emerged anonymously.
“They have been sponsored, including by some state actors,” again, a reference to Pakistan.
Mr. Harish said regulation must not punish the legitimate.
“Steps towards financial inclusion, humanitarian action and responsible innovation are only undermined when illicit flows go unchecked. Therefore, the regulatory outcome should be proportional, not prohibitive,” he said.
India has made an “honest effort” to practice what it advocates.
“We have brought virtual asset service providers within our anti-money laundering framework. We have tightened verification requirements for centralised exchanges and users, and we have contributed case studies to the FATF’s updates and best practices to mitigate terror financing risks,” he said.
In October 2022, the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), chaired by India that year, had organised a Special Meeting in New Delhi and Mumbai on the overarching theme of ‘Countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes’.
As an outcome of the special meeting, the Committee had adopted the ‘Delhi Declaration’ on countering the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes.
Mr. Harish said India had chosen to focus the committee’s attention on two frontiers: virtual assets and online platforms, adding that as head of UNSC CTC, India had developed the non-binding guiding principles pursuant to the Delhi Declaration.
“It is a matter of great satisfaction that its pillars are being taken forward and the world is gaining from it,” he said.
In his remarks to the Fourth High-Level Conference on Counter-Terrorism, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the world is grappling with acute instability as conflicts are triggering energy shocks, inflation and hunger across the globe, millions are displaced, and millions more are facing economic hardship.
“These conditions — of want, of fragility, of mistrust — are ideal circumstances for terror to thrive. From Africa to South Asia, and across the Middle East, affiliates of Al-Qaida and Da’esh and other terrorist groups persist,” he said.
Mr. Guterres said violent extremist narratives — including those based on xenophobia, racism, and other forms of intolerance, or in the name of religion or belief — pose deadly domestic threats in many nations.
“Terrorists of all stripes are adapting. New technologies make it easier for them to finance and recruit. Criminal networks speed the flow of cash and weapons, now including deadly drones,” he added.
“Terrorists have grown adept at exploiting emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, digital platforms, and unmanned weapons,” he said.
While these tools have supercharged their ability to recruit, finance and plan attacks, technology also offers powerful tools to detect threats early, stop the flow of illicit assets, and understand pathways to terrorist radicalisation, he said.
hariMr. Guterres called on the international community to cooperate to address the conditions and grievances that allow terrorism to take root and stressed that terrorism is a transnational threat, and no nation can address it alone.
