New Delhi: Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday conducted the first meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group (IMCG) at the Secretary level as India’s outreach to the country’s neighbourhood on different aspects of cooperation.
The India-led session focused on building cross-border infrastructure to improve trade with Nepal, expanding railway connectivity with Bangladesh, and addressing Bhutan’s and the Maldives’ unique needs, as well as humanitarian help to Afghanistan and Myanmar, officials said.
The IMCG was founded as a high-level vehicle to mainstream India’s Neighbourhood First policy, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision, and is supported by the Inter-Ministerial Joint Task Force (JTF) convened by the Joint Secretaries in the Ministry of External Affairs.
The meeting deliberated on the areas of trade and investment, connectivity, border infrastructure, immigration, development cooperation, border security and made important outreach on various aspects of India’s bilateral relationship with neighbouring countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
Secretaries from various ministries/departments of India and their counterpart representatives from neighbouring countries attended the meeting.
The IMCG would strengthen institutional coordination across government and provide broad guidance to the Indian government’s approach to its ties with the neighbours.
(Venkatesh)