India calls for strong action against fugitive economic offenders, terrorism at BRICS Foreign Minister's Meet

India called for stronger actions against economic offenders and fugitives at the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) Foreign Minister's meeting here on Friday (local time).

The meeting which was attended by V.K. Singh, Minister of State for Road, Transport and Highways, instead of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar due to last-minute cancellation of plans, said, "We at BRICS need to continue to work together against economic offenders and fugitives since this is a serious threat to world economic stability."

Singh reiterated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G20 Buenos Aires summit 2018 had suggested a 9-points agenda for action against fugitive economic offenders and asset recovery.

Singh also stressed that the BRICS members have been victims of terrorism themselves and the group needs to take a clear stand that terrorists and their supporters cannot in any scenario be equated the victims of terrorism.

He said that India strongly condemned the recent terror attacks in New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Somalia and other parts of the world. "With the ever high number of terror attacks it is evident that terrorists are never in short supply of weapons and money and so BRICS must call upon all states to prevent financing of terrorist networks and terrorist actions from their territories," he added.

BRICS has always shown a strong commitment to terrorism and extremism and has adopted a comprehensive strategy to combat terrorism, the minister said.

"We request similar support from you on the issue of India's call for a global conference on terrorism. BRICS support for such a global conference would underline our commitment to a comprehensive approach to counter-terrorism on a firm international and legal basis and may bolster our efforts for the early conclusion of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism," he noted.

Concluding, India attaches great importance to BRICS and "we continue to work closely with BRICS partners in the spirit of mutual trust, respect and transparency to further strengthen our bonds."

( With inputs from ANI )