Proposal for NMFT
On Saturday, HOME MINISTER Amit Shah proposed creating a permanent “No Money For Terror” (NMFT) Secretariat in India, which would be expected to more effectively coordinate international efforts to combat funding for terrorism. Shah declared that the “timing is right” for a permanent secretariat when making this announcement at the NMFT conference.
The concept, according to sources in the security establishment, is still in its infancy. “India has sensed the need for the NMFT’s unique initiative to be permanent during the discussions in order to maintain the ongoing global focus on combatting the financing of terrorism. The time is right to set up a permanent secretariat. The chair’s statement offers to set up a permanent secretariat in the nation in order to advance this idea.
“India is positioning itself as a global player”
In his speech, Amit Shah stated that India would send a discussion paper to each participating jurisdiction for their insightful thoughts. “India is positioning itself as a global player in the anti-terrorism fight since we have experience in handling Islamic terrorism, Khalistani terrorism, and Northeast insurgency. Such experience is crucial to provide this kind of leadership to the global counter-terrorism fight.
India is keen to establish a secretariat to deal with money laundering as well as combating the financing of terrorism issues,” said an official who is part of the deliberation process on the NMFT Secretariat-Indian express. While the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was coordinating efforts to stop the financing of terrorism through sanctions and capacity building in many states, the official claimed that various aspects of the financing of terrorism, as well as specific geographical locations, needed more focused attention.
“India’s diverse expertise and the NMFT Secretariat will lend a helping hand in this situation… Another official stated that India is positioning itself to be a major role in global counterterrorism initiatives and is not just focusing on Pakistan-related issues.
Read More: Home Minister Amit Shah gave Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Pahari Community
Emphasis on FATF
Amit Shah met with the FATF director among other people in a number of bilateral meetings throughout the course of the two-day conference. Shah emphasized the necessity for FATF to consistently watch the tendencies of some of the countries to sponsor terrorism during the bilateral meeting with FATF President T Raja Kumar, the office of the Home Minister said in a statement.
Kumar praised India for taking the initiative to hold the NMFT conference and indicated the FATF’s commitment to collaborate closely on anti-money laundering and countering terrorism funding challenges as part of India’s G20 agenda, according to a statement. The FATF stated in a tweet that Kumar made a call for action to combat terrorism financing at the conference and cautioned that far-right and Islamist terrorist organizations are transferring money covertly, including through the use of cryptocurrency assets.
Delegates from 72 countries and 15 international organizations are present at the NMFT conference. Germany has agreed to host the conferences in 2024 and 2025, but the 2024 host has not yet been chosen.
