India moots permanent secretariat to fight terror

Union Home Minister has proposed a permanent secretariat for “No Money for Terror,” (NMFT) a ministerial body.

• The “No Money for Terror” conference was started in 2018, as an initiative of the French government, to specifically focus on cooperation between countries to choke terror funding.
• In 2019, the conference was held in Australia.
• It was to be held in India in 2020 but was postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Conference 2022:

• It was attended by delegates from 72 countries and 15 international organizations.
• During the Conference, deliberations were held in four sessions with a focus on:
  • Global Trends in Terrorism and Terrorist Financing.
  • Use of Formal and Informal Channels of Funds for Terrorism.
  • Emerging Technologies and Terrorist Financing.
  • International Co-operation to Address Challenges in Combating Terrorist Financing

Key Points:

• India reiterated that all countries will have to agree on one common definition of ‘terrorism’ and ‘terror financing’.
• Avoid the issue from turning into a political issue.
• Prevention of the use of Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) to spread terror Ideology.
• India has decided to develop national and global databases on crimes such as terrorism, narcotics, and economic offenses.
• India will circulate a discussion paper to all participating jurisdictions for their comments.
• India stressed the need to strengthen the United Nations Security Council framework to deal with the threat of terrorism.

Significance of Permanent Secretariat:

• To coordinate global efforts against terror funding more efficiently
• To sustain the continued global focus on countering the financing of terrorism.
• The time is ripe as India is positioning itself as a global player in the anti-terrorism fight.
• To deal with money laundering as well as combating the financing of terrorism issue.
• It will be working complementary to Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Measures suggested:

• Preventing diversion from legal financial instruments by fighting anonymity in financial networks.
• Restricting the use of proceeds of other crimes for terrorist activities
• Preventing the use of new financial technologies, virtual assets such as crypto-currencies, wallets, etc., for terror activities
• Eliminate the use of Illegal channels, cash couriers, and hawala by terror networks
• Continuous capacity building of counter-terror and financial intelligence agencies of all countries.

India’s stand at NMFT Conference 2022:

• Regime Change in Afghanistan: India urged the international community to take cognizance of threats emerging from regime change in Afghanistan, as the last one had led to the 9/11 attacks.
• Stress on Terrorist's Safe Havens: India stressed that the international community should never ignore terrorists’ safe havens or their resources.
• Cost of Terrorism Supportive Countries: Certain countries support terrorism as part of their foreign policy. They offer political, ideological, and financial support to them.
• Threats from Organised Crime: Organised crime should not be seen in isolation and these gangs often have deep links with terrorist outfits.

Initiatives to Counter Terrorism:

National:

• In January 2009, in the wake of the 26/11 terrorist attack, the National Investigation Agency was established to deal with terrorist crimes.
• In India, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act is the primary anti-terrorism law.
• To gather information related to security, the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) has been established.
• An operational hub has been created for the National Security Guard to ensure a rapid response to terrorist attacks.

Global:

United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT)

• Terrorism Prevention Branch (TPB) of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
• Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
• India’s Annual Resolution on Counter-Terror