Any information exchanged would be treated as secret and governed by the provisions of Article 26 (Exchange of Information) of the Double Taxation Avoidance Convention (DTAC).
Replying to another question, the minister said India would get access to bank details, besides tax-related information, if Mauritius agreed to amend the relevant Article on Exchange of Information in the DTAC.
A joint working group, comprising members from the two governments, was constituted in 2006 to inter-alia put in place adequate safeguards to prevent misuse of the DTAC. Six rounds of discussions have taken place so far.
"There was unwillingness on the part of Mauritius to cooperate in addressing this problem. We have now proposed the next round of discussions to which Mauritius is yet to respond," Palanimanickam said.
He further said since Mauritius is yet to respond to the next round of discussions, "...it is not possible to fix a time limit for signing the revised treaty".