India to work with Switzerland on black money: Modi

After holding talks with Swiss President Doris Leuthard, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said New Delhi will continue to work with Berne to combat black money.

"Transparency in financial transactions is an issue of concern in today's world, whether it be black money, dirty money, hawala or arms and drugs financing," Modi said in a joint address to the media along with Leuthard.

"To combat this global problem, we will continue to cooperate with Switzerland," he said.

Modi said foreign direct investment was an important pillar of economic cooperation between India and Switzerland. "We specially welcome Swiss investors in India.

"We agreed to continue discussions on a bilateral agreement regarding this. Swiss companies have a lot of expertise to partner India in its road to development."

Modi said the proposed free trade agreement between the European Union and India also came up for discussion.

Leuthard said Switzerland had one of the strongest laws against money laundering and hoped other countries would follow suit.

--IANS

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