Brisbane: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the repatriation of black money kept abroad was a key priority and called for “close coordination” on the issue during an informal meeting of the five-nation BRICS leaders here ahead of the G20.
The prime minister told the leaders of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa that “repatriation of unaccounted money kept abroad is a key priority for us”, according to tweets posted by the external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.
Modi also said that BRICS should set 2016 as the target for the inauguration of the BRICS Bank.
The ministry of external affairs, tweeting about the speech, wrote: “At BRICS meet ahead of G-20 PM @narendramodi calls for ‘Close coordination on unaccounted money kept abroad’.”
“Unaccounted money abroad is also linked to security challenges – PM @narendramodi ahead of G-20 Summit in Brisbane,” said the MEA tweet.
In his departure statement Nov 11 before leaving on his tour to Myanmar, Australia and Fiji, the prime minister had said that he will highlight the importance of global cooperation against black money at the G20, which kicks off here Saturday.
The informal meeting of BRICS is an event held on the sidelines of the G20.
He thanked Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff for hosting the BRICS Leaders’ Meeting and congratulated her on her re-election.
Referring to the Sixth BRICS Summit held at Fortaleza, Brazil in July, Modi said it had “delivered – the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement”.
“These signal our collective capacities to create and manage global institutions. These can be effective in promoting sustainable development and bridge infrastructure gaps. We can be more aligned to local conditions and requirements. We should focus on next generation infrastructure,” he said, according to an official statement.
He said: “We can promote new models of governance and financing, while maintaining the highest banking standards. We should also make it more participatory and urged towards its early implementation. We propose that we should set the target of 2016 for inauguration of this Bank.”
“We hope to ratify the agreement by the end of the year. We would soon nominate our candidate for the post of the Presidency. The Contingent Reserve Arrangement is also a very timely initiative.
“The work on the Reinsurance pool among BRICS is also a welcome one. We hope that our officials will be able to come up with a concrete proposal by the next year.”
These measures send a strong message to the rest of the world about the efficacy of BRICS.
“Besides these, we have started work on many other proposals that would deepen our relations and enhance our cooperation in all spheres,” he said.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Modi warmly shook hands with Rousseff, who won a tough re-election last month, smiled and chatted with Russian President Vladimir Putin who is slated to come to New Delhi next month for the annual summit, and also with Chinese President XI Jinping, who came to India in September. He also chatted with South African President Jacob Zuma. (IANS)
