Shah calls for global action in the fight against terrorism
NEW DELHI: India has proposed to set up a “permanent secretariat” for the “No Money For Terror (NMFT)” initiative to ensure continuous global focus on countering terror financing and chalking out a practical and workable road map to fight terrorism, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Saturday, as he urged all countries to share intelligence in a transparent manner.
Shah also asked jurisdictions who support terrorists or those who harbour them – in what was seen as an indirect reference to Pakistan and China – to “think beyond politics” and cooperate with each other.
Speaking at the concluding session of the third ministerial NMFT conference, Shah said: “India has sensed the need for permanency of this unique initiative of NMFT in order to sustain the continued global focus on countering the financing of terrorism. Time is ripe for a permanent secretariat to be established.”
He added that the chair statement issued after the two-day conference “offers to establish a permanent secretariat in India”.
“Shortly, India will circulate a discussion paper to all participating jurisdictions for their valuable comments (in this regard),” he said.
Government officials who were part of the conference said a decision to establish the permanent secretariat in New Delhi is “more or less” finalised as most countries have agreed to it.
The NMFT secretariat will be a multilateral platform to discuss issues related to terror financing and new technologies and mechanisms used by terrorists to raise funds, an official said on condition of anonymity.
“Like the global watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) deals with anti-money laundering measures related to terror financing, the NMFT secretariat will be the base for discussing a future road map and common strategies for countering the financing,” the official said.
At least 450 delegates from 77
countries, other than India, and 16 multilateral agencies such as Interpol, FATF and Europol attended the two-day conference.
On the need for cooperation over transparency, Shah said: “Our first commitment should be cooperation with transparency. All countries, all organisations, must pledge complete transparency in sharing intelligence in a better and more effective manner. We have to fight this war against terrorism and terrorist groups, in every geographical space, in every virtual space.” “No country or organisation can successfully combat terrorism alone. The international community must continue to fight shoulder-to-shoulder against this increasingly complex and borderless threat,” he added.
Shah also indirectly targeted Pakistan, saying that “some countries and their agencies (referring to the ISI) have made terrorism their state policy”.
Without naming China, which has repeatedly blocked India’s attempts to sanction Pakistanbased terrorists at the UN Security Council, Shah said: “We observe that some countries repeatedly support terrorists and harbour terrorism. I believe that terrorism has no international boundaries, so all countries should think beyond politics and cooperate with each other.”
The Chair Statement, issued after the conference, said the international meet “underscored the importance of whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, whereby cooperation in countering terrorism and its financing between relevant stakeholders, including the executive, the legislature, the judiciary, civil society and private sector, is secured”.