E-Paper
Inter-ministerial coordination group to boost India’s Neighbourhood First policy
The first meeting of the inter-ministerial coordination group (IMCG) discussed issues such as the construction of border infrastructure to facilitate trade with Nepal and humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.
NEW DELHI: The first meeting on Tuesday of the inter-ministerial coordination group (IMCG), created to mainstream India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy, discussed issues such as the construction of border infrastructure to facilitate trade with Nepal and humanitarian aid for Afghanistan.
The meeting, convened by foreign secretary Harsh Shringla, also took up key issues related to India’s neighbours, such as the special needs of Bhutan and the Maldives in terms of essential commodities, the opening of more rail connectivity links with Bangladesh, and the problem of detention of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan authorities, people familiar with the matter said.
The meeting discussed various aspects of bilateral relations with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in areas such as trade and investment, connectivity, border infrastructure, immigration, development cooperation and border security.
Besides the activities under the IMCG mechanism, ministries and departments were asked to accord priority to neighbouring countries in their international activities, programmes and projects, the people said.
The IMCG focuses on improving institutional coordination across the government and provides comprehensive direction for a whole-of-government approach towards India’s relations with neighbouring countries.
The external affairs ministry also organised the first training module on India’s neighbourhood at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration as part of the foundation course this year.
The meeting was attended by secretaries of the ministries and departments of home, commerce, finance and fisheries, and representatives from the ministries and departments of defence, railways, economic affairs, consumer affairs, agriculture and farmers’ welfare, information and broadcasting, as well as the cabinet secretariat, national security council secretariat. The heads of border guarding forces also participated in the meeting.
IMCG is supported by inter-ministerial joint task forces (JTFs) convened by joint secretaries in the external affairs ministry. A whole-of-government approach has been adopted to ensure greater connectivity, stronger inter-linkages and greater people-to-people connect under the “Neighbourhood First” policy. This includes coordination with various ministries, departments, and agencies of the Central and state governments.
