The Prime Minister was addressing the third ‘No Money for Terror Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing’ hosted by the Ministry of Home Affairs
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, November 18, said strict financial penalties ought to be imposed on countries which aid terrorism as part of their foreign policy by providing political, ideological and financial support a PTI report in The Tribune, Chandigarh, says.
Addressing the third ‘No Money for Terror Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing’ hosted by the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Prime Miinister said organisations and individuals that try to create sympathy for terrorists must also be isolated.
“There can be no ifs and buts interfering in such matters. The world needs to be united against all kinds of overt and covert backing of terrorism,” Modi said.
Without a larger strategy to strike and cripple terror finances, tactical gains against terrorists would soon be lost, the prime minister said.
Asserting that the country would not rest till terrorism is uprooted, Modi said the long-term impact of terrorism is particularly hard on the poor and local economy.
“International organisations must not think that absence of war means peace. Proxy wars are equally dangerous and violent. There must be a cost imposed on countries that support terrorism,” the prime minister said.
Modi said one of the sources of terror funding is organised crime which must not be seen in isolation. “Anyone who supports radicalisation should have no support in any country,” the prime minister said.
“These gangs have deep links with terrorists. The money made in gun-running, drugs and smuggling is being pumped into terrorism…Action against organised crimes is extremely important in the fight against terrorism.”
He said all terrorist attacks deserved equal outrage and action. Only a uniform, unified, zero-tolerance approach could defeat terrorism, Modi stressed.
The two-day conference will build on two previous conferences held in Paris in April 2018 and Melbourne in November 2019, and work towards enhancing global cooperation to deny finances to terrorists and access to permissive jurisdictions to operate.
During the conference, 77 countries besides host India and 16 multi-lateral agencies like Interpol and Europol will deliberate on key issues related to restricting the flow of illicit money for funding terrorism, NIA Director General Dinkar Gupta said.
*********************************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com