By Arun Kumar, IANS,
Washington : India and the US have agreed to expand cooperation in targeting the financial networks of terrorist organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taeba (LeT)/Jamaat-ud Dawa (JuD) and the Haqqani Network, and terrorists associated with them.
The agreement was reached at the fourth annual meeting of the US-India Economic and Financial Partnership here Sunday co-chaired by Indian Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew.
They agreed to enhance cooperation between agencies of the two countries in fighting against counterfeiting currency and illicit financial flows, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs Arvind Mayaram said in press statement.
The two sides also agreed to increase engagement by experts from both governments to make “expeditious progress to address all trade and investment policy issues of bilateral concern so as to remove obstacles and improve the business environment in both countries,” he said.
Chidambaram and Lew agreed to deepen India-US cooperation bilaterally and in multilateral fora, including the G-20, to achieve reforms for stronger, more sustainable and more balanced growth, Mayaram said.
“They also reaffirmed the importance of enhancing the credibility, legitimacy and effectiveness of the International Monetary Fund and the urgent need to ratify the 2010 IMF Quota and Governance Reform,” he said.
They also agreed to continue working towards a greater understanding of all investment related issues including taxation and IT enabled services, an equitable and principled resolution of ongoing tax disputes, and strengthened bilateral ties in this regard.
The two leaders agreed to continue to cooperate on deepening capital markets and strengthening financial regulation, Mayaram said.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])