The Eurasian Group (EAG) has identified more than 600 people linked to international networks involved in terror financing this year, its top official said here.
Identifying ways of financing international terrorists and their financiers has emerged as the biggest challenge at present and this issue was discussed at length during the 41st plenary meeting of the EAG comprising nine countries, EAG chairman Yuri Chikhanchin said on Friday.
He was addressing a press conference after the conclusion of the five-day meet that began on November 25. Belarus, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are the nine member countries of the EAG.
"This is the biggest challenge that we are facing - identifying channels of financing, financiers and sustainment of international terrorists because we all are international these days," Chikhanchin said.
"This year itself, over 600 people have been identified in our region via the analysis of financial intelligence units (FIU) of countries associated with EAG. We have identified these people on the basis of their financial behaviour. This is a great result, and it will give us more opportunities in the future to enhance this work," the organisation chairman said.
This was a big success, and it will create new opportunities to bolster the campaign to identify people involved in financing terrorism, he said. Replying to a query on Afghanistan, he said in the current global scenario, the risks related to terrorism are not limited to any one country.
"The risk of terrorism across the region is the most prevalent and most troubling. Afghanistan is one country in which the risk of terrorism is still relevant. We are thinking about joint measures to tackle this risk emanating from Afghanistan," Chikhanchin said.
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According to him, in one of the sessions of the EAG meetings, ways to strengthen the organisation's relations with Afghanistan and reduce the risk of terrorism in that country were discussed.
"We have discussed in one of our meetings how to fortify and enhance our relations with Afghanistan and how to minimise the risk and the situation there that it still triggers," he added.
Asked about the impact of the ongoing wars in Ukraine and West Asia in the global fight against money laundering and terror financing, Chikhanchin said, "Eurasian Group is a purely technical organisation. We never discuss issues of political nature. We stand against terrorism financing and money laundering." When asked whether the EAG is considering recommending a ban on cryptocurrencies due to their misuse in money laundering and terror financing, he said the regulation of the existing framework of cryptocurrencies is a serious and complex issue, and the world needs to find a solution together.
Vivek Aggarwal, who participated in the EAG meeting as the head of the Indian delegation (HOD), said this five-day meeting was beneficial for the host country in many ways.
Aggarwal, who is the additional secretary of the revenue department of the Finance Ministry and the Director of the country's FIU, said the 600 people identified by EAG chairman Chikhanchin in connection with terror financing cases also include persons involved in cross-border financial transactions.
In these cases, the units through which these transactions were done have also been identified, he added.
Aggarwal said, "The EAG meeting discussed in detail the terrorist financing from across the border in the Indian context. It discussed the role of organisations like Al Qaeda, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Lashkar-e-Taiba and their affiliates as well as the international transaction of money by them." The EAG meeting also discussed such cases in which money was transacted through cryptocurrencies, which could be used to strengthen terrorism, he said.
The financial technology (fintech) industry and digital payment system are growing at the fastest pace in India, and cybercrimes and ways to deal with them were also discussed during the meeting, Aggarwal added.
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