India’s continued stand-off with Pakistan has extended to Milan, Italy, where an Indian delegation is being led by the Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, along with officials from the Department of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Finance for the 58th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of Asian Development Bank (ADB).
India has demanded that the regional development bank cut funding for Pakistan after the centre accused the latter of being responsible for the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 tourists and injured many others. The meeting is being held from May 4 until May 7.
As part of New Delhi’s punitive moves against Islamabad, Sitharaman also met her Italian counterpart Giancarlo Giorgetti and requested him to cut finances to Pakistan. As per United Nations Development Programme website, the Italian Development Cooperation is an essential UNDP partner in Pakistan and across the world. “Some of Italy’s major initiatives and contributions are in Pakistan,” UNDP website read. ANI also quoted sources as saying that India will approach FATF (Financial Action Task Force) to include Pakistan in the grey list.
An official statement from the Ministry of Finance said that the meetings will be attended by official delegations of the Board of Governors of ADB, official delegations of ADB members and international financial institutions. The Union Finance Minister will participate in the Annual Meeting’s main events like the Governors’ Business session, Governor’s Plenary Session and as a panelist in the ADB Governors’ Seminar on “Cross-Border Collaboration for Future Resilience”.
India’s diplomatic ties with its immediate neighbour has nosedived after the Kashmir attack. Besides suspending the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, India has banned all imports from Pakistan, barred its ships from entering Indian ports, barred its flights from Indian airspace. Pakistan has replied with a similar stance.
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