Pakistan's US Lobbying Blitz After India's Op Sindoor Strikes on Terror Camps

In fresh disclosures under the US Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), it was revealed that Islamabad launched an aggressive lobbying campaign in Washington, repeatedly reaching out to the American establishment.

According to documents submitted to the US Department of Justice and accessed through FARA filings, Pakistan also sought US support to maintain the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) continued whitelisting shortly after Operation Sindoor.

The documents also revealed that Islamabad conveyed its concerns and appeals through its registered lobbyists, stressing its political commitment to the international community and requesting US assistance ahead of the FATF plenary scheduled for June 2025.

The escalation in May is referred to as India's Operation Sindoor, which came in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians.

India's armed forces carried out strategic precision strikes on Pakistani military installations in May, following operations that targeted nine terror camps in Pakistan and PoJK in the early hours of May 7.

Following India's operation, the conflict between India and Pakistan deepened, which resulted in increased cross-border shelling from Pakistan and retaliatory action from the Indian Armed Forces on 11 of Islamabad's military installations, which suffered significant damage.

A surprising sequence of events unfolded as Pakistan's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) proposed a ceasefire to India's DGMO, which was accepted.

The contact from the Pakistani side was also confirmed by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who noted that the two sides agreed to halt all military operations - on land, at sea, and in the air.

According to documents obtained, Pakistan used its lobbying firm to contact Washington numerous times via email, phone, and in-person meetings under the agenda of "U.S.-Islamic Republic of Pakistan Bilateral Relations".

"As you know, Squire Patton Boggs is a registered agent of the government of Pakistan under FARA. We'd very much appreciate your feedback on the attached one-page outline of ways forward in the US-Pakistan relationship: did we miss anything or would anything sound off-key in Washington? Separately, do you think we could try again to schedule a meeting with Eric to discuss and hear his perspectives on how best to move the relationship forward?" an email document stated, which was disclosed under FARA.

Pakistan has also tried to contact another firm, through which it appealed to the US to secure continued inclusion on the FATF whitelist after Operation Sindoor.

In October 2022, Islamabad was removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, the global watchdog on money laundering and terrorist financing, which restricts a country's access to international loans. Pakistan had been placed on the grey list in 2018.

According to the documents, Islamabad assured that it remains committed to completing all residual referrals agreed with FATF and expressed readiness for an open bilateral exchange of information to address what it termed "five residual items."

Pakistan claimed that since its removal from the FATF grey list in October 2022, it has made "significant and consistent progress" in complying with FATF standards and domestic anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing requirements.

The country also acknowledged the earlier FATF process as "protracted and combative" and sought US assistance to ensure "procedural fairness" and avoid a similar outcome. It credited the US for what it described as "extremely helpful support" during the completion of previous FATF action plans and expressed confidence that Washington would again acknowledge Pakistan's progress "on technical merits and fairness".

"Pakistan values extremely helpful support by the US in completion of both FATF Action Plans, and sincerely believes that same will continue in concluding the referral process as well in the June 2025 Plenary. We are confident that the US will acknowledge, on technical merits and fairness, the substantial progress made by Pakistan," the accessed document stated.

Pakistan also objected to the introduction of "new issues beyond mandate" in FATF's final analysis and accused a "particular jurisdiction" of allegedly politicising the process through media campaigns, an apparent reference to India's strong anti-terror stance.

The FARA disclosures lay bare Pakistan's extensive lobbying efforts in Washington, highlighting its attempts to shield itself from international accountability even as India decisively targeted terror infrastructure in PoJK and Pakistan.

The documents underscore the growing recognition of India's strategic precision and regional dominance, while reinforcing New Delhi's long-standing stance that counter-terrorism compliance and international oversight must be grounded in facts and action, not in political pressure or lobbying.

- ANI