Black money no more an issue with India, says Swiss envoy

Swiss ambassador to India Dr Ralf Heckner has said black money is not an issue anymore in financial relations between Switzerland and India, as both sides have already exchanged several batches of information.

"I have been Swiss ambassador for more than two years and I almost heard nothing or hardly anything about black money. The black money issue has been dealt with by a bilateral treaty between Switzerland and India in 2018 on the automatic exchange of banking information between Switzerland and India (in both directions)," the Swiss ambassador said.

"We had several batches of information exchanges between Switzerland and India. So the black money issue isn't an issue anymore. There is not one cloud over the bilateral relations when it comes to our financial relations. On the contrary, I see a lot of convergence now because sustainability is very dear to the Honorable Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) and the same applies to the Swiss government," he added.

Traditionally, Switzerland was seen as a safe tax haven for Indian businessmen, politicians and industrialists.

(ANI)