China yet to respond to invite for Delhi conference: Official
NEW DELHI: China is yet to respond to India’s invite to attend the third ministerial “No Money For Terror” (NMFT) conference, being held in Delhi on Friday and Saturday to discuss global trends in terrorism and terror financing, officials in charge of the conference said on Thursday.
Pakistan, which is the largest source of funding of terror activities in India, and Afghanistan, which poses a significant threat following last year’s takeover of the country by Taliban, have not been invited , the officials added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Friday inaugurate the two-day conference, being attended by 73 countries including India, and 15 multiinvestigation lateral bodies such as Financial Action Task Force, Interpol, and Europol . Union home minister Amit Shah will deliver the concluding address on Saturday and also chair a session on Friday on “global trends in terrorism and terrorist financing”.
Speaking at a press conference on the event on Thursday, director general of the National Agency (NIA) Dinkar Gupta said: “Choking of financial flows to the terrorist outfits is one of the most crucial ways of stopping terror acts”.
Asked whether Pakistan, Afghanistan and China were invited for the conference, Secretary (West) in the ministry of external affairs (MEA) , Sanjay Verma, said “China has been invited” but remained silent on Pakistan and Afghanistan.
According to the agenda, there will be four sessions in which representatives will discuss “global trends in terrorism and terrorist financing”; “use of formal and informal channels of funds for terrorism”; “emerging technologies and terrorist financing” ; and “international cooperation to address challenges in combating terrorist financing”.