Daily Briefing: Hitting Pakistan’s cash flow

Big Story

In a bold and unprecedented move, India has directly named Pakistan in connection with the April 21 terror attack in Pahalgam. For the first time, a senior Indian minister, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, openly accused Pakistan of supporting, training and funding terrorist networks. The charge came during a high-stakes call with US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who reportedly backed India’s right to defend itself.

Target set: India is intent on hitting Pakistan where it probably hurts the most—its money. It has a two-pronged strategy to curb financial flows that help Pakistan fund terror activities. Step one: Get Pakistan back on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s “grey list”. The FATF is a global money laundering and terror financing watchdog, and being on its grey list adversely impacts foreign direct investment and capital inflows. Step two: Raise objections to the International Monetary Fund’s continued financing of a $7-billion aid package to the neighbour.

Also read: When terrorists gunned down civilians in Pahalgam, all eyes turned to the Pakistan army and its shadowy proxies. More so, on army chief Asim Munir, the so-called “jihadi general” and arguably the most powerful man in Pakistan. Don’t miss my colleague Shubhajit Roy’s deep dive into what makes Munir tick.

Only in Express

The government’s decision to include caste enumeration in the Census saw broad political consensus. But who drove the change? We discuss in this week’s Dis/Agree column.

📌 The Congress party’s spokesperson, Anshul Avijit, reasons that the BJP’s subdued performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections forced it to “apply correctives” and give in to the Opposition’s demand.

📌 Meanwhile, BJP spokesperson, Guru Prakash, paints the Centre’s decision as a “political and moral milestone” to overturn years of the Congress’s “lackadaisical attitude towards social justice”.

The ruling party, in fact, is all geared up to counter any projection that this is a vindication of the Opposition’s stand. The BJP plans to invoke the Congress’s lack of action on the Mandal report and the failed Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) under the UPA government.

👉 Read our explainer to know more about the SECC, which was conducted between 2011 and 2013 but never published.

Must Read

Renew, refresh: The central and Delhi governments are coming together to take on the ambitious task of cleaning up the River Yamuna. In a timeline ranging between June 2025 and March 2029, the governments aim to implement a 30-point roadmap to improve the water flow quality and strengthen sewage treatment, among other measures.

A Himalayan task: In Uttarakhand’s Devprayag, India’s longest transportation tunnel is taking shape. Stretching 14.5 kilometers, the Janasu twin tunnel, or Tunnel No. 8 (T-8), would mark a bold engineering feat. But building it is no mean feat. Pushed to its limits, the Indian Railways is in a race against both time and the uncertainty of Himalayan geology.

Caution: ‘Opinion trading’ platforms allow users to win money by betting on the likelihood of a real-life event taking place. Over 5 crore people engage with these platforms, with transaction volumes hitting over Rs 50,000 crore a year. But their modus operandi has raised alarm bells, with the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) warning investors against dealing with these platforms.

And Finally…

🏏 Fan favourites and five-time champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), saw a dismal performance this season. They have become the first team to be eliminated. My colleague Venkata Krishna B dissects where the CSK magic faltered—from reluctance to change to auction failures.

🎧 I leave you with the latest episode of the ‘3 Things’ podcast, where we discuss the threats to Kashmiris in Uttarakhand, India’s diplomatic moves against Pakistan and the importance of the Vizhinjam seaport.

That’s all for today, folks! Happy weekend-ing!
Sonal Gupta

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