New Delhi, Jan 25 (TOI): Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his recently-concluded trip to Switzerland, a country also known for its strict secrecy in banking matters.

The Modi government has long maintained that fighting black money stashed in offshore accounts is among its key priority areas.

In late 2016, India and Switzerland signed a joint declaration that would allow the former to receive financial information of accounts held by Indians in Swiss banks automatically from September 2019.

Almost exactly a year later, a key parliamentary panel in Switzerland approved an automatic information exchange pact with India, and 40 other countries.

The pact will grant access to details - like account numbers, credit balance in accounts and proceeds from the sale of financial assets - about alleged black money hoarders in the country's banks.

If an Indian holds a bank account in Switzerland, the bank will disclose the financial account data to authorities there, who will communicate the information to their Indian counterparts, reported PTI.

PM Modi was at Davos in Switzerland to attend the annual summit of the World Economic Forum. He gave the opening keynote address at the plenary session there.