Modi pushes `Mission Black Money’ ahead of G20 summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today raised the issue of black money, saying that repatriation of illegitimate wealth kept in overseas tax havens is a ''priority'' for his government and sought close global coordination to achieve this objective.

Speaking at an informal meeting of leaders of the five-nation BRICS grouping ahead of the G20 summit, Modi said, he remains committed to bringing back every penny of black money stashed abroad.

''Repatriation of black money kept abroad is a key priority for us,'' Modi said and called for close coordination on the issue of black money kept abroad. Such unaccounted money also posed security challenges, he added.

India's attempts to retrieve black money, has support from G20 Summit host Australia as the prime minister made it clear that close cooperation to retrieve black money from abroad is a key issue for him.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot had yesterday vowed a ''very aggressive'' crackdown on tax avoidance.

 ''A key issue for me would be to highlight the importance of international cooperation against black money,'' Modi had said, as he is set to renew the country's commitment at the G20 summit to a global response to deal with cross border tax avoidance and evasion.

India will also urge the G20 to pressure tax havens into revealing more information on black money from India to help retrieve this illegal money.

Besides Modi, the informal BRICS meeting was attended by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South African President Jacob Zuma and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

Modi congratulated Brazialian President Dilma Rousseff on her re-election. ''From Brazil to Brisbane, it has been most successful journey under your leadership. Our group will continue to benefit from your visionary leadership,'' he said.

The prime minister recalled the historic 6th BRICS Summit in that delivered the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement. These, he said, signalled the collective capacities of BRICS to create and manage global institutions (See: India to name first BRICS Bank president).

''These can be effective in promoting sustainable development and bridge infrastructure gaps. We can be more aligned to local conditions and requirements. We should focus on next generation infrastructure.

''We can promote new models of governance and financing, while maintaining the highest banking standards. We should also make it more participatory,'' he said while calling for the need to work towards their early implementation.