BRISBANE, Nov 15 � Prime Minister Narendra Modi today pitched for global cooperation on retrieval of black money stashed abroad as the summit of G20 countries opened here amidst intense pressure from within on tackling the menace, reports PTI.
Meeting G20 leaders for the first time in a summit, he made it clear that retrieval of unaccounted Indian black money abroad is his government�s priority and also sent a message that economic reforms should be insulated from politics.
The two-day summit is being held at a time when tax avoidance by big multi-national companies was reportedly organising tax-lowering deals with Luxembourg and pressure from anti-corruption advocates, urging the major economies to stem the flow of illicit money across borders.
Opening the summit, host Prime Minister Tony Abbott vowed that the summit will deliver on an initiative to add USD 2 trillion to the global GDP, add more than 2 per cent to the global economic growth and millions of jobs.
Raising the black money issue at an informal meeting of leaders of the five-nation BRICS bloc, Modi also sought close global coordination to achieve the objective of bringing black money back home.
Modi set the tone on black money issue ahead of the G20 summit in the wake of his commitment to bring back every penny of black money stashed abroad.
�Retrieval of black money kept abroad is a key priority for us,� Modi told the BRICS leaders � Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff,
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President President Jacob Zuma.
Calling for close coordination on the issue of black money kept abroad, Modi said this unaccounted money is also linked to security challenges.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told reporters it was for the first time that there is focus on the �security dimensions� of black money.
Since coming to power, Modi has repeatedly said that bringing back black money is a priority and his government on its first day in office constituted a special investigative team (SIT) headed by a former Supreme Court Judge to unearth black money.
Later, addressing fellow G20 leaders at a retreat, Modi said the reform process is bound to face resistance and wanted it to be insulated from political pressures.
Making a strong pitch for economic reforms, Modi said that reforms should lead to simplification of processes and that methods of governance must be reformed.
