The first meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group (IMCG) was convened by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Tuesday to take forward India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy in line with vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Secretaries of various ministries such Home, Commerce, Finance, Fisheries, Railways, Agriculture and Defence participated in the meeting to ensure better coordination in improving ties with the neighbouring countries. 

“The IMCG provided a comprehensive direction with a whole-of-government approach to promote better connectivity, stronger interlinkages and greater people-to-people connect with our neighbours,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet.

“The meeting deliberated upon and took important decisions on various aspects of India’s bilateral relationship with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the areas of trade and investment, connectivity, border infrastructure, immigration, development cooperation and border security,” the MEA statement said.

The meeting also comes in the backdrop of economic crises in Sri Lanka and Nepal and the need to ensure quick decision making to help the neighbouring countries.

The IMCG will further improve institutional coordination across government and provide comprehensive direction to this whole-of-government approach on India’s relations with its neighbouring countries, the statement added. 

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