Sitharaman, Yellen discuss fight against money laundering, terror funding

The two dignitaries held a wide-ranging discussion to step up bilateral cooperation during the eighth India-USA Economic and Financial Partnership meeting held here on Thursday. The meeting reflected the growing importance of the U.S.-India relationship and the increasing economic and financial ties between the two economies.

The importance of fighting illicit finance and the need for continued cooperation in tackling money laundering and combating the terror funding was underpinned by Sitharaman and Yellen, the Finance Ministry said in a tweet, as the two countries issued a detailed joint statement after the meeting.

“We continue to strengthen our cooperation in tackling money laundering and financing of terrorism through increased information sharing and coordination,” said the joint statement.

“Both sides agree on the importance of fighting financial crimes and on the effective implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards to protect our financial systems from abuse,” it added.

It assumes importance as the Paris-based global body against money laundering and terror financing in June retained Pakistan on its ‘grey list’ for failing to check money laundering, leading to terror financing.

The FATF asked Pakistan to investigate and prosecute UN-designated terrorists based in the country like Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed and also asked Islamabad to work to address its strategically important deficiencies.

During the first India-US Economic and Financial Partnership meeting since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the two countries also agreed on further engagements on emerging financial sectors such as cross-border payments, payment systems and the development of an International Financial Services Centre. Sitharaman and Yellen were also joined by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das.

Sitharaman and Yellen affirmed their commitment to continue engagement both bilaterally and multilaterally to address global economic issues.

“India and the US look forward to continued collaboration to support the global recovery under the G20 Presidency of Indonesia next year. As India prepares for its 2023 G20 Presidency, the United States stands ready to support India in hosting a successful and productive year,” the joint statement said.

“We took stock of the extensive efforts that have already been undertaken to deepen mutual understanding and highlighted new elements of the vital bilateral relationship,” it said.