Black money repatriation priority: Modi at BRICS

Brisbane: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday said the repatriation of black money kept abroad was a key priority and called for "close coordination" on the issue during an informal meeting of the five-nation BRICS leaders here.

The prime minister told the leaders of Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa that "repatriation of unaccounted money kept abroad is a key priority for us", according to tweets posted by the external affairs ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin.

"At BRICS meet ahead of G-20 PM @narendramodi calls for 'close coordination on unaccounted money kept abroad'.

"Unaccounted money abroad is also linked to security challenges - PM @narendramodi ahead of G20 Summit in Brisbane," said the MEA tweet.

In his departure statement Nov 11 before leaving on his tour to Myanmar, Australia and Fiji, the prime minister had said that he will highlight the importance of global cooperation against black money at the G20.

During the informal meeting of BRICS, the prime minister interacted with the leaders of the bloc.

He warmly shook hands with Brazil's Dilma Rousseff, who won a tough re-election last month, smiled and chatted with Russian President Vladimir Putin who is slated to come to New Delhi next month for the annual summit, and also met Chinese President Xi Jinping, who came to India in September.

Later the five leaders linked hands for a photo. The BRICS accounts for over 40 percent of the global population and has a combined GDP of $24 trillion. The summit was held July 15 in Fortaleza, Brazil, where Modi had interacted with the leaders for the first time.