Sri Lanka proposes eminent persons group to galvanize political will to fight terror financing
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka has proposed the setting up of a group of eminent persons to help galvanize greater political will and create further international awareness among states on the importance of combating terrorist financing. The proposal was made at the 3rd ‘No Money For Terror (NMFT) Ministerial Conference’ concluded in New Delhi recently.
Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to India, Milinda Moragoda, who led the Sri Lanka delegation made the proposal in his statement to the Conference, which was held on November 18 and 19.
The Conference, which was hosted by the Government of India, was inaugurated by India Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The even saw participation of delegations from 93 countries and multilateral organizations.
The Conference extensively discussed global trends in terrorism and terrorist financing, use of formal and informal channels of funds for terrorism, emerging technologies and terrorist financing and requisite international co-operation to address challenges in combating terrorist financing.
Delivering the country statement of Sri Lanka, Moragoda stated that political will on the part of member states is the most significant component in international cooperation to address the multi-faceted challenges faced when combating terrorist financing. He said though the objective of the Conference, to sensitize the international community to the dangers of ignoring this issue, was commendable, there should be a mechanism to provide continuity to the work of the Conference.
In this context, Moragoda proposed that India, as the Chair of the present Conference, take the lead in creating a group of Eminent Persons selected from among the member states with a view to helping galvanize greater political will and to create further international awareness among states on the importance of combating terrorist financing.
The 1st and 2nd No Money For Terror Ministerial Conferences were held in Paris in 2018 and in Melbourne in 2019 respectively. The 3rd Conference was built on the progressive agenda of an integrated approach with collective involvement initiated in the first two Conferences.
-ENCL
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