Terrorism continues to get the necessary financial resources to thrive, EAM Jaishankar said

Highlighting that money is the "lifeblood of terrorism", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday outlined a five-pronged strategy that could be followed to tackle terror financing.

In his inaugural address at the informal briefing on combating terrorism financing in local and regional contexts during the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee's special meeting in Mumbai, he suggested the following five points:

  1. Effective and sustained efforts at countering terror financing is at the heart of the issue of countering terrorism. Normative efforts at the UN need to be coordinated through collaboration with other fora like the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Egmont Group.

  2. We need to ensure the effective and transparent functioning of the Security Council sanctions regime and make sure that they are not rendered ineffective for political reasons. Objective and evidence based proposals for listing of terrorist groups, especially those that curb their access to financial resources must be seen through.

  3. International cooperation and concerted action against terrorists and their sponsors, including through dismantlement of terrorist safe havens, sanctuaries, training grounds and financial and ideological as well as political support structures, are critical imperatives to defeat this scourge.

  4. Terrorism’s nexus with transnational organized crime, illicit drugs and arms trafficking is now well established. It is important that we recognize these linkages and strengthen multilateral efforts to break them.

  5. Over the years, terrorist groups have diversified their funding portfolio. They have also begun to exploit the anonymity afforded by new and emerging technologies such as virtual currencies for fundraising and finances. In this regard, we look forward to the deliberations at the Special Meeting of the Committee tomorrow in New Delhi to provide innovative solutions for the international community to consider.

According to EAM Jaishankar, terrorist organizations require funds and resources to maintain their organizational functions and undertake activities. "The reality that terrorism continues to exist and expand points to an underlying truth: that terrorism continues to get the necessary financial resources to thrive," he said.