India to Flag Pakistan's Terror Role With Global Lenders

To voice concerns when IMF takes up a $1.3 bn loan for Pakistan next week

- Ruchika Chitravanshi & Satrupa Bhattacharjya

India is not only set to red-flag the International Monetary Fund's (IMF's) fresh $1.3 billion loan tranche for Pakistan, expected to be considered by its executive board on May 9, but is also gearing up to caution other global institutions and lenders like the World Bank on their engagements with its troublesome neighbour, a top government source said on Friday.

The heinous Pahalgam attack has prompted the government's top brass to ramp up the offensive against Pakistan and re-emphasize the country's role as a perennial terror sponsor at global fora. India has traditionally abstained from voting on multilateral loans to Pakistan, but last year, for the first time, it had mooted the IMF place caveats on such loans to ensure they were not used for arms purchases or defence spends, and loan repayments to other countries. "We will discuss the issue with other multilateral development banks (MDBs) and global financial institutions as well," the official source said.

Prior to the Pahalgam terror attack, India had planned to caution the IMF board when it took up the second installment of a $7 billion loan the Fund had agreed to provide Pakistan, about the latter's plan to invest in the New Development Bank, backed by the BRICS nations. Pakistan's NDB membership pitch is aimed at reducing its dependence on western lenders even as it sought to borrow billions of dollars from them, and India intended to highlight this anomaly.