Give out the major sources of terror funding in India and the efforts being made to curtail these sources. In the light of this, also discuss the aim and objective of the No Money for Terror (NMFT) Conference recently held at New Delhi in November 2022. (250 words)

Sources

• Counterfeit currency, narcotics and arms trafficking, extortion, kidnapping, illegal mining and smuggling.
• Hawala, shell entities, misuse of charities or NGOs, crowdfunding, cryptocurrencies and trade-based laundering.
• Cross-border state or diaspora support and diversion of legitimate donations can supplement domestic criminal proceeds.

Counter-measures

• UAPA, PMLA, NIA investigations, FIU-IND alerts, ED attachment and confiscation, tax scrutiny and bank KYC/AML systems disrupt financial channels.
• India uses FATF standards, targeted sanctions, customs and border intelligence, cash and precious-metal reporting, beneficial-ownership checks and international mutual legal assistance.
• Better prosecution, inter-agency databases, NGO risk-based supervision and monitoring of virtual assets must preserve legitimate remittances and civil society.

NMFT 2022

Hosted in New Delhi, the conference sought stronger international cooperation, information sharing, asset tracing and prosecution; it highlighted the need to deny terrorists safe havens and access to formal and informal finance. Its Delhi Declaration emphasised a coordinated, risk-based response to emerging technologies, virtual assets and crowdfunding, alongside implementation of FATF principles.

Way forward

Move from event-based commitments to measurable cooperation, timely extradition, shared typologies, financial-intelligence capacity in developing countries and safeguards against politicised designations.

Keywords

hawala; FATF; PMLA; FIU-IND; beneficial ownership; Delhi Declaration