New Delhi, April 25: In sync with New Delhi's continued anti-terror efforts in its diplomatic engagements, Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar is leading a high-level Indian delegation to the two-day Conference on Combating Terror Financing that started in Paris on Wednesday.
Welcoming India's participation in the conference, French Ambassador to India Alexandre Ziegler said in a statement: "As the hosting country, France is delighted that India is sending a high-level, comprehensive delegation to the event."
Headed by Akbar, the Indian delegation comprises Rajinder Khanna, Deputy National Security Advisor, Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary (Counter Terrorism) in the External Affairs Ministry, Chander Modi, Director-General of the National Investigative Agency (NIA), and other representatives from the Ministries of Home Affairs and Finance.
"This impressive participation is both a reflection of counter-terrorism being a shared priority for our two countries, and the excellence of our partnership in this regard," Ziegler said.
Ministers from 80 countries and nearly 500 experts are gathering in Paris from Wednesday for the conference on combating the financing of terror groups such as Islamic State and Al Qaeda, thelocal.fr news website reported citing French officials said.
Terrorist attacks across the world have become increasingly low-cost since the 9/11 atrocities in the US, particularly in recent years when followers of the Islamic State (IS) have used vehicles and guns as their main weapon of choice
"But French authorities remain concerned about a huge war-chest amassed by IS between 2014 and 2016 when it ruled over large swathes of oil-rich territory in Iraq and Syria," the website report said.
"A French presidential official briefing journalists on Tuesday said that IS income was estimated at about $1 billion (820 million euros) a year."
India, meanwhile, has been seeking the world's support for the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) that it initiated in the UN in 1996.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
