A delegation from India to Vienna, Austria, attended the annual INTERPOL General Assembly, the largest gathering of senior law enforcement officials in the world. This year’s General Assembly also marks the 100th anniversary of INTERPOL and returns to the city where the organization was founded a century ago. The five-member delegation from India was led by Director CBI Shri Praveen Sood and included Shri Dinkar Gupta, Director General of the National Investigation Agency.
Indian delegation discusses enhanced coordination via INTERPOL
The Indian delegation held discussions with law enforcement agencies from multiple countries for enhanced coordination via INTERPOL channels, with a view to concerted action to combat organized crime, terrorism, drug trafficking, money laundering, online radicalization, cyber-enabled financial crimes, and to prevent these crimes on a real-time basis.
India stressed the need to deny any safe havens for crime, criminals, and proceeds of crimes. The need for coordinated strategies to curtail criminal organizations that operate across international jurisdictions was deliberated.
The Indian delegation held detailed discussions on matters of police cooperation with high-level delegations from Austria, UAE, USA, UK, Nepal, Brazil, Australia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Japan, Switzerland, Bangladesh, Singapore, and Zambia. Discussions were held for better sharing of criminal information via INTERPOL channels, to expedite mutual legal assistance and extradition requests.
Vision 2030 & creation of Interpol Future Council
India also supported the adoption of INTERPOL'S Vision 2030 and the creation of the Interpol Future Council.
The Indian delegation also held discussions with senior officials of Interpol, Europol, Pacific Islands Chiefs of Police Organisation, and the US Air Force Office of Special Investigations on strengthening arrangements for cooperation.
The General Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of Interpol and meets annually to deliberate, inter alia, on issues of global security, emerging crime trends, and international police cooperation.
CBI as the National Central Bureau for Interpol in India
CBI is designated as the National Central Bureau for Interpol in India and coordinates all international police cooperation requirements of Indian law enforcement agencies through the Interpol channels. India joined Interpol in 1949 and has been an active member of the organization.
It may be recalled that India hosted the 90th Interpol General Assembly in New Delhi from 18th - 21st October 2022, inaugurated by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India. The 90th INTERPOL General Assembly in India had unprecedented participation from delegations from 168 countries during which historic resolutions were adopted by the General Assembly relating to strengthening collaborative responses to disrupt financial crime and corruption; combating the menace of online child sexual exploitation and promoting diversity within Interpol.
The first-ever global crime trend report was released by Interpol in its New Delhi Session, and the organization also launched its presence in the Metaverse. The Interpol flag was handed over to Austria by the Hon'ble Union Home Minister of India during the closing ceremony of the 90th INTERPOL general assembly on 21st October.
Interpol Young Global Police Leaders program
Subsequently, India hosted the Interpol Young Global Police Leaders program earlier in 2023 involving the participation of 44 countries. The CBI Academy joined the Interpol Global Academy Network to emerge as a global training hub for Interpol.
It may be recalled that 2023 saw as many as 24 criminals and fugitives wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies being returned from abroad to India through close coordination via Interpol channels, one of the highest ever in a year. Further, India has also geolocated more than 184 criminals in various countries and initiated formal proceedings for their return. This reflects increased leveraging of Interpol channels and relationships with law enforcement agencies internationally to combat crime and criminals.
