To combat terror financing, India and the US today committed to work together to check illicit money transfers for terrorism and other illegal activities, even as the two countries discussed ways to boost trade ties.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and the visiting US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew also discussed a range of other issues, including on taxation and long-term investment strategies, during the 5th Indo-US Economic and Financial Partnership meeting here today.
"We have had a close cooperative relationship with India. We share a common commitment to working together to try as much as we can to shut down the flow of funding to those who commit terrorist act and other kinds of activities," Lew said at a post-meeting joint press conference.
"We discussed money laundering and funding of terrorism, since a large number of these funds come through concealed identities. This issue has been brought to out notice and the concerned authorities, including central bank, has taken appropriate action in this matter," Jaitley said.
Cooperation at global level is needed to check money laundering, Jaitley said, adding that the issue of India becoming a part of Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), which will lead to automatic exchange of information between the two countries, were discussed at the meeting.
The meeting follows a direction issued earlier this week by the Reserve Bank, asking banks to strictly monitor export financing after Enforcement Directorate reportedly unearthed an over-invoicing scam involving oil payments to Iran.
The ED had found that crores of Rupees accumulating in an UCO Bank branch in Kolkata in oil payments to Iran, were siphoned on the pretext of exporting essential items like medicines and machinery to Iran.
Jaitley further said that the overall state of the economy was also discussed in the meeting.
"There were several sectors about which we had detailed discussions -- the financial sector, the macro-economic situation in both the countries, taxation, banking, problems facing entire world with regard to funding of terrorism," Jaitley said.
