AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday, 20 June 2026, called on the Narendra Modi government to pursue Pakistan's return to the FATF grey list and seek a UN Security Council designation of The Resistance Front (TRF), while also demanding that India attempt to list Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) as a terror-financing entity. The Hyderabad MP made the remarks in the context of Vivek Agarwal becoming the first Indian elected as Vice President of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Context

Owaisi's post highlights Vivek Agarwal's election as the first Indian to serve as Vice President of FATF, framing the milestone as a diplomatic opening India must exploit. He argued that a US listing of TRF 'is of no real use' and that only a UN-level designation would carry meaningful multilateral weight against the group. He also invoked the Red Fort suicide blast of November 2025 as a basis for escalating pressure on Pakistan-backed networks.

TRF, also known as The Resistance Front, is a militant outfit operating in Jammu and Kashmir that Indian security agencies regard as a proxy for Pakistan-based proscribed organisations. Owaisi's call for listing the ISI itself goes further than any action India has formally pursued at the UN to date.

Policy Backdrop

Pakistan was placed on the FATF grey list in June 2018 over deficiencies in its anti-money-laundering and counter-terror-financing frameworks. After completing 27 action points, it was removed from the list in October 2022 — a decision that India's strategic community viewed with concern, arguing that structural links between the Pakistani state and terror groups remained unaddressed.

India has previously used multilateral mechanisms to raise costs for Pakistan-based groups: the UN Security Council's 1267 sanctions regime was used to designate Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar in May 2019 after years of blocked attempts. Successive Indian governments have also lobbied within FATF to keep scrutiny on Islamabad's terror-financing record. Owaisi's demand for a TRF listing follows this established diplomatic playbook but adds the unprecedented ask of targeting the ISI as an institution.

Stakeholders and Impact

An Indian national heading a FATF vice-presidency gives New Delhi procedural influence at the body's plenary sessions, potentially easing the path to initiating a mutual evaluation or re-grey-listing process against Islamabad. Indian diplomats and the Ministry of External Affairs would be the primary actors in translating that influence into concrete agenda items.

For Pakistan's military establishment, a return to the grey list would mean renewed restrictions on international banking access, foreign investment flows, and reputational standing — consequences that carry significant economic weight for an already stressed economy. A UN designation of TRF under the 1267 regime would freeze assets and impose travel bans on listed individuals, cutting off the group's international fundraising.

What's Next

Attention will now focus on the next FATF plenary and whether India, with Vivek Agarwal in the vice-presidential role, formally moves to place Pakistan back under enhanced monitoring. Any Indian push at the UN Security Council for a TRF designation under the 1267 sanctions list will face the familiar challenge of navigating vetoes from permanent members sympathetic to Islamabad. Owaisi's intervention, while from the opposition, adds public pressure on the government to demonstrate diplomatic assertiveness on cross-border terrorism at a moment when India holds rare institutional leverage inside FATF.