New Delhi, Nov 18: In the midst of the uncertainty over cryptocurrency and its usage, it seems the Government of India is firm on its stand against the virtual currencies.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah chaired the first session of the 3rd ‘No Money for Terror’ Ministerial Conference on ‘Global Trends in Terrorist Financing and Terrorism’ theme in New Delhi on Friday.

In his opening address, the Union Home Minister said that terrorism is, undoubtedly, the most serious threat to global peace and security, but, the financing of terrorism is more dangerous than terrorism itself, because the ‘Means and Methods’ of terrorism are nurtured from such funding. Furthermore, the financing of terrorism weakens the economy of countries of the world.

Home Minister Amit Shah said that the ‘darknet’ is being used by terrorist organisations for spreading radical content. The Union Home Minister stressed that there is need to come up with solutions to track down such networks which have facilitated the use of cryptocurrency as a means of funding for terror groups.

In spite of the progress made in upgrading the overall security architecture and that of financial systems, the terrorist groups are still trying out new methods for radicalising youth besides getting funding for its activities.

“We also recognize that the threat of terrorism cannot and should not be linked to any religion, nationality, or group. To confront terrorism, we have made significant progress in fortifying the security architecture and the legal and financial systems. In spite of this, terrorists are constantly finding new ways to carry out violence, radicalize youth and raise financial resources,” said the Union Home Minister while addressing the first day of the international conference.

Shah added, “Terrorists are using the Darknet to spread radical content and conceal their identities. Additionally, there is an increase in the use of virtual assets like cryptocurrency. We need to understand the patterns of these Darknet activities and find their solutions.”

The Home Minister further said that development of an efficient operational system against the channels operating virtual assets is of utmost importance.

He said, “We have a new challenge in the form of Virtual Assets before us. New methods of virtual assets are being used by terrorists for financial transactions. To crack down on the use of virtual asset channels, funding infrastructure and darknet, we need to work coherently towards developing a robust and efficient operational system.”

Without naming any specific country, the Union Home Minister also made an appeal to those undermining the collective resolve in the fight against terror.

“Unfortunately, there are countries that seek to undermine, or even hinder, our collective resolve to fight terrorism. We have seen that some countries protect and shelter terrorists, protecting a terrorist is equivalent to promoting terrorism. It will be our collective responsibility that such elements never succeed in their intentions,” Shah said.

While reiterating that the terrorist organisations have knowledge of modern weaponry and that they are well equipped with technological knowhow said, “This transformation of terrorism from “Dynamite to Metaverse” and “AK-47 to Virtual Assets” is definitely a matter of concern for the countries of the world. And we all have to work together to formulate a common strategy against it.”

The Union Home Minister said that India has been a victim of terrorism for several decades, which is sponsored from across the border. He said that Indian security forces and civilians have had to deal with incidents of extremely serious terrorist violence perpetrated in a sustained and coordinated manner.