Once that act was passed in 2015, the next step was action against those groups and individuals that had been designated as terrorists by the United Nations The warnings are now pouring in continuously to act against militant groups, or risk international isolation. Pakistan would do well to heed them for its own sake, it said.Another newspaper, The News, commented that Pakistan needs to reflect seriously about the consequences of its inaction against terrorist finance. The failure to curb terrorism finance is something that the country accepts internally.There have been constant pleas within the government apparatus to come up with measures to combat the free flow of terrorist finance. But these efforts remain beset by contradictions, it said.Currently, the offending entity seems to be the free operation of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its charity wing JuD, it said.The group (JuD) was able to launch a political party this year and has not faced action from the state akin to a serious clampdown. Cosmetic action has continued to be taken, which is why the international community remains unconvinced by the presidential ordinance putting Pakistan s terrorist organisation list in compliance with the UN list and the recent seizing of LeT assets, the paper said.The optics are not convincing.

Source: Economic Times February 25, 2018 13:41 UTC