Lok Sabha Question No. 97 (STARRED), answered on 2022-12-13
Subject: 90th INTERPOL General Assembly
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Rajveer (Raju Bhaiya) Singh, Vinod Kumar Sonkar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. *97

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 13 TH  DECEMBER, 2022/ AGRAHAYANA 22, 1944 (SAKA)

90TH INTERPOL GENERAL ASSEMBLY

*97.      SHRI RAJVEER SINGH (RAJU BHAIYA): SHRI VINOD KUMAR SONKAR:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  has  recently  hosted  the  90th  INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization) General Assembly in New Delhi and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether India has shaped the INTERPOL's agenda to explore linkages between  terrorism  and  criminal  activities  and  pay  attention  to  narcoterror,  cyber  radicalisation,  organised  criminal  syndicates  and  money laundering and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the General Assembly adopted a resolution for cooperation on financial  crime  and  corruption,  focusing  on  reducing  and  eventually eliminating  illicit  financial  flows  that  provide  the  backbone  for  terrorist and criminal activities;

(d) if so, the reaction of the Government thereto;

(e) whether the member-States agreed to provide access to their respective national Financial Intelligence Units to INTERPOL's databases including  the  SLTD  database  (Travel  and  Identity  Documents)  to  track cases of terrorists and criminals who use fake travel documents to move across jurisdictions and if so, the details thereof; and

(f) the other steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI NITYANAND RAI)

(a) to (f):    A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A)  TO (F) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. *97 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 13.12.2022 IN THE LOK SABHA

(a): Government of India hosted the 90 th  INTERPOL General Assembly in New  Delhi  from  18 th   -  21 st  October,  2022.  This  was  attended  by  166 member countries of INTERPOL with over 700 delegates.

(b) to (e): India  effectively  contributed  towards  INTERPOL's  agenda  on terrorism  and  linkages  with  criminal  activities.  INTERPOL's  first-ever Global Crime  Trend  report was  presented  to delegates during 90 th INTERPOL General Assembly. The report identified that Jihadist terrorism continues  to  pose  the  greatest  terrorist  threat  at  the  global  level.  It detailed  that  terrorists  are  using  more  advanced  technologies  including drones, GPS systems and encrypted messaging services. It was noted that increased  cooperation  must  also  be  prioritized  by  member  countries  to counter terrorism in all its forms.

The issue of terrorism including narco terror, cyber radicalization, organized  criminal  syndicates  and  money  laundering  were  emphatically raised  by  India  during  the  90 th   Interpol  General  Assembly.  India  also emphasized upon need to cooperate through platforms for the exchange of information and intelligence, intelligence-based joint campaigns, regional maritime  security  cooperation,  mutual  legal  assistance  and  an  effective mechanism to fight money laundering.

90 th   INTERPOL  General  Assembly  adopted  Resolution  for  strengthening INTERPOL's  collaborative   response  to   disrupting   financial   crime   and corruption.  The  resolution  has  importantly  recommended  that  an  Expert Working group be established to assess various proposals devoted to the exchange  of  financial  information  and  to  the  tracing  and  recovery  of criminal assets including recommending creating a new INTERPOL notice named Silver Notice. This resolution strongly echoes the firm stand of the Government  to combat  financial crime and corruption, focusing on reducing and eventually eliminating illicit financial flows that provide the backbone for terrorist and criminal activities.

The Resolution also calls upon member  countries to actively and collectively support the fight against organized crime, financial crime and corruption  through  inter  alia  considering  providing  national  Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) with direct access to INTERPOL's Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) and Nominal databases, in compliance with the respective national legislation.

(f): The  Government  of  India  has  given  approval  to  Central  Bureau  of Investigation  (CBI)  for  joining  of  FIN-LEX  (Finance  to  Law  Enforcement Exchange)  developed  by  INTERPOL.  The  objective  of  FIN-LEX  is  to proactively  assist  member  countries  with  the detection of terrorism and

associated crimes, and the advancement of ongoing investigations through the generation and dissemination of actionable intelligence based upon participating FIU's data contribution, and the development of a sustainable  model  for  the  international  data  exchange  between  multiple FIUs and law enforcement agencies. Further, CBI has also joined INTERPOL's International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database after approval of government of India.

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