‘Reclaiming black money from abroad is our main priority’: Congress

NEW DELHI - Asserting that all measures have been taken by the government to resolve the simmering issue, Congress spokesperson Shakeel Ahmed on Thursday said it was pertinent to reclaim black money stashed away in foreign banks.

Briefing reporters here, Ahmed revealed that the government had already succeeded in getting back more than 6.9 million dollars through its relentless efforts.

“Every Indian wants the money deposited in banks abroad must be returned. According to our Finance Minister, India has been able to reclaim more than Rs. 34,000 crore due to relentless efforts taken by the federal government. We are also in talks with other nations in connection with this issue,” said Ahmed.

However, the Congress spokesperson maintained that the government would be careful not to break ‘international commitments’ while dealing with the issue.

“All the money which has been siphoned off from this country to other parts of the world should come back to the country. But we should not do anything which prohibits us or which forces us to break international commitments that will hamper our efforts to bring back the large amount of money which is being siphoned off from this country,” said Ahmad.

The Supreme Court had earlier criticized the Government of India for its handling of black money deposited by industrialists and others in foreign bank accounts.

According to the data provided by the Swiss bank, India has more black money than rest of the world combined.

UK has 390 billion dollars in black money, Russia has 470 billion dollars and India tops the list with almost 1500 billion dollars. (ANI)