Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought greater cooperation between India and Switzerland in the fight against black money as he hosted Swiss Confederation President Dorris Leuthert on Thursday.
"Transparency in financial transactions is a major global issue. Black money, dirty money, the money involved in drugs and arms trade are all a global menace. Our cooperation with Switzerland in the fight against this menace is continuing," Modi said, after a meeting with Leuthert at the Hyderabad House in New Delhi.
Leuthert arrived in New Delhi late on Wednesday for her maiden visit to India after taking over as the president.
She and Modi witnessed the signing of two Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) on Thursday — one between the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and another between the Ministry of Railways and the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications of the Swiss Federation. The MoUs will help build technical cooperation in the rail sector.
Modi, who had visited Switzerland in June last year, said he and Leuthert had held a discussion on the proposed Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement between India and the European Free Trade Association.
He said India and Switzerland will start a system of automatic exchange of information about financial transactions to strengthen the fight against tax evasion, once the Swiss Government completes the necessary internal process.
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