G20 leaders condemn terrorism, money laundering, term it 'most serious threat' to international peace

At G20, the premier forum for international economic cooperation, the world leaders reached a consensus on various key issues, one of which was countering terrorism and money laundering. The New Delhi Leaders' Declaration condemned terrorism in "all its forms and manifestations, including those on the basis of xenophobia, racism and other forms of intolerance, or in the name of religion or belief, recognising the commitment of all religions to peace. It constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security."

The world leaders, through the declaration, also committed to boosting resources of the terrorist financing watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

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"We commit to supporting the increasing resource needs of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and FATF Style Regional Bodies and encourage others to do the same, including for the next round of mutual evaluations."

India has always been using multilateral international platforms, such as the United Nations, to voice its concerns pertaining to terrorism and money laundering. New Delhi has long been facing the wrath of cross-border terrorism which is breeding on Pakistani soil across the border.

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"We remain committed to the timely and global implementation of the revised FATF Standards on the transparency of beneficial ownership of legal persons and legal arrangements to make it more difficult for criminals to hide and launder ill-gotten gains. We welcome the ongoing work of the FATF to enhance global efforts to recover criminal proceeds, in particular, the progress made by the FATF towards revising its standards on asset recovery and reinforcing global asset recovery networks," the Delhi Declaration added.

Terror financing

India, along with other G20 member nations strongly condemned "all terrorist acts against critical infrastructure, including critical energy facilities, and against other vulnerable targets."

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The declaration called for a "holistic approach" on the basis of international law that can effectively counter terrorism.

"Efforts to increase the effectiveness of international cooperation should be strengthened to deny terrorist groups safe haven, freedom of operations, movement and recruitment, as well as financial, material or political support," it added.

Risks of emerging technologies

G20 member nations vowed to support the FATF's initiative "to accelerate the global implementation of its standards, including the “travel rule”, and its work on risks of emerging technologies and innovations, including decentralised finance (DeFi) arrangements and peer-to-peer transactions."

The Travel Rule is a set of guidelines designed to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

"We reiterate the importance of countries developing and implementing effective regulatory and supervisory frameworks to mitigate risks associated with virtual assets in line with FATF Standards, especially for terrorism financing, money laundering, and proliferation financing risks," the Delhi Declarationadded.

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