New Delhi: In an apparent reference to Pakistan, Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that some countries, along with their government agencies, have made ‘terrorism’ their state policy, arguing that their unrestrained activities should be dealt with strict economic crackdown.
Speaking at the concluding session of the third ‘No Money for Terror’ Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing, Shah said, “Some countries, their governments and their agencies have made ‘terrorism’ their state policy. In these terror havens, it is necessary to shackle their unrestrained activities along with a strict economic crackdown and all the countries of the world will have to make up their minds on this, rising above their geopolitical interests.” The veiled reference comes as India has been vociferously telling the world about Pakistan’s use of terrorism as state policy, at several world forums. Asides from this, New Delhi has been asking the world for greater scrutiny of Pakistan’s actions in breeding terrorism.
Addressing delegates from across the world, Shah said that India observes that some countries repeatedly support terrorists and those who harbour terrorism. “But, terrorism has no international boundaries, so all countries should think beyond politics and cooperate with each other,” he said.
The Home Minister said that at the same time, all countries will have to agree on one common definition of ‘terrorism’ and ‘terror financing’, because it is an issue of the protection of our citizens, and their human and democratic rights, it should not become a political issue.
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He noted that it has also been found that these organizations tend to become the medium of financing terrorism. Shah said that recently, the Government of India has banned an organization that conspired to radicalize the youth and push them towards terrorism and that every country should identify and take stringent action against such organisations.
Union Home Minister said that all countries must implement the standards, and recommendations set by the Financial Action Task Force, FATF, not just on paper, but in spirit. He argued that the strategy of “Trace, Target, and Terminate” should be adopted from low-level economic offenses to more organized economic crimes.
Describing terrorism as the biggest menace against democracy, human rights, economic progress and world peace, Shah said India is committed to working with all countries to combat terror financing in all its forms, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Over terror threats arising out of modern technology, Union Home Minister said that terrorists understand information technology and cyberspace very well, and tend to exploit them. Moreover, he stressed that cyberspace today has become a major battleground in the fight against terrorism.
Shah said that there have also been multiple changes in Weapons Technology, and these 21st-century lethal technologies and drone technologies are also accessible to terrorists now. He said that the growing links of terrorism with organized crimes such as narcotics, crypto-currency, and hawala, have increased the possibility of terror financing manifold.
Shah said that the primary goal of this conference is to identify various channels and ideate a practical and workable roadmap against terror financing, identifying its various channels. He stated that according to an estimate by the IMF and the World Bank, criminals around the world launder around USD 2 to 4 trillion every year.
The two-day conference event on November 18-19 offers a unique platform for participating nations and organisations to deliberate on the effectiveness of the current international regime on counter-terrorism financing and the steps required to address emerging challenges.
The conference worked towards enhancing global cooperation to deny finances to terrorists and access to permissive jurisdictions to operate.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by HW News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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