Seeking to ensure a more efficient and “whole-of-government” approach towards crises in the South Asian neighbourhood including Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla convened the first meeting of an “Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group (IMCG)” involving secretaries of about 10 ministries as well as senior officials from the Cabinet Secretariat and National Security Council Secretariat.
The meeting, held at the Ministry of External Affairs’s Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan, seeks to “mainstream” India’s “Neighbourhood First” policy, an MEA statement said. In addition, sources said, the inclusion of Ministries like Commerce, Finance, Fisheries and Security structures would mean quicker decision-making in the face of sudden economic crises, and flashpoints over border firing, fishing and prisoners in each other’s countries in the neighbourhood.
