India attends global task-force meet on Panama Papers expose

New Delhi, Jan 21 : India has taken part in the just concluded Joint International Taskforce on Shared Intelligence and Collaboration (JITSIC) meeting on Panama Papers held in Paris on January 16 and 17, an official statement said.

"India participated in the Joint International Taskforce on Shared Intelligence and Collaboration (JITSIC) meeting held in Paris on 16th and 17th January 2017 where 30 revenue authorities shared their findings on investigations arising from the Panama Papers including the role of tax intermediaries such as financial institutions, advisers, etcetera, who facilitate tax evasion," a Finance Ministry release here said on Friday.

In April last year, in a series of articles under "Panama Papers" -- as part of the global expose on people with alleged offshore links -- the Indian Express newspaper published a list of Indian names who had allegedly stashed away unaccounted assets abroad.

Following the revelations, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had ordered a multi-agency probe team on the expose, conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) along with over 100 global media organisations.

"The sharing of this information within a group of this size is unique and sets the basis for greater cooperation amongst tax administrations," the statement said.

The tax administrations will, accordingly, continue to share information under existing legal frameworks for exchange," it added.