Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group (IMCG)

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• The first meeting of Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group (IMCG) on India’s neighbourhood outreach was convened.

Inter-Ministerial Coordination Group (IMCG)

• The IMCG has been set up as a high-level mechanism (secretary-level) towards mainstreaming of India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
• The IMCG is supported by Inter-Ministerial Joint Task Forces (JTF) convened by the concerned joint secretaries in the Ministry of External Affairs.
• 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.

Key Highlights of the meet

• 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,
• It 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, border security.
• It focussed on construction of cross-border infrastructure for enhancing trade with Nepal.
• It will look after addressing special needs of Bhutan and Maldives besides humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and Myanmar.
• In addition to the IMCG mechanism, Ministries and Departments have been requested to accord priority to India’s neighbours in their international activities, programmes and projects 
• the MEA had also organised a “training module” on India’s neighbourhood for civil service trainees this year.

Relevance 

• The timing of the initiative is significant as it comes within days of the massive protests over the economic situation in Sri Lanka
•  The IMCG could also be convened to help avoid tensions at the land borders with Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy

• It is a core component of India’s foreign policy that focuses on peaceful relations and collaborative synergetic co-development with its South Asian neighbours of the Indian subcontinent.
• It encompasses a diverse range of topics, such as economic, technology, research and education, connectivity, space program, defence security, environment and climate challenge.
• This policy creates new avenues as well as leverages existing regional cooperation initiatives, such as SAARC, SASEC, BBIN, and BIMSTEC.
• It compliments India’s Look East policy focused on Southeast Asia and Look West Policy focused on the Middle East.

Major roadblocks in India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy

• Trust deficit: Since India’s independence, there has been a huge trust deficit between India and its neighbours who consider that India flaunts a “Big Brother” attitude towards its smaller neighbours.
• Not focussing on other countries: There is also a pervasive impression that barring Pakistan, India does not devote enough time and attention to solving problems or strengthening relations with other neighbours.
• Relations with Nepal hit a roadblock in 2015: when months-long demonstrations and protests were launched by the Madhesi community of Nepal against the newly adopted Constitution as their demands for greater representation were ignored.
  • This forced a blockade of vehicular movement from India into Nepal delivering a shock to the Nepalese economy.
  • New maps drawn up in 2020 and the Nepalese Constitution amended to show the Indian territories of Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kalapani as belonging to Nepal are some of the other zones of conflict.
• India’s initiatives to improve relations with Pakistan did not meet with a positive response: Pakistan resorted to increased firing and shelling from across India’s borders and continued to mastermind and support terrorist attacks on Indian Territory.
• The recent takeover by the Taliban in Afghanistan has introduced great uncertainty and anxiety in India and several other countries in the region and beyond.
• China doubled down on territorial claims and its transgressions along its borders with South Asia from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
  • Other issues include the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers at the Galwan valley.
  • China also laid claim to Bhutan’s Sakteng natural reserves and pushed along the boundary lines with Nepal.

Way forward/ Steps taken by the Government

• PM went to Bhutan for his first visit: This decision was taken to further cement the “special relationship,” particularly in the wake of a concerted push by China to establish diplomatic ties with Bhutan and settle its borders to the detriment of India’s interests.
  • India is Bhutan’s strongest partner, with cooperation ranging from construction of infrastructure, power plants, roads and cement plants to education and health.
• India started placing greater emphasis on cooperation in the sub-regional groups of Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) and BIMSTEC whose members include Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.
• PM “Samudra Yatra” which inter alia took him to Sri Lanka in 2015: as the first bilateral visit by an Indian PM after a gap of 28 years, was a resounding success.
  • He was able to reach out to all segments of local society and communities and emphasise India’s interest in the integrity, sovereignty, stability, security and prosperity of Sri Lanka.
• India has invested heavily to the tune of US$ 3 billion in the economic, social and physical infrastructure as well as in development of human resources in Afghanistan. India enjoys century’s old cultural and civilisation links with the Afghan people.
• India’s relations with Bangladesh today are the friendliest and most fruitful than they have been at any time since 1975 when the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu was assassinated.
• India has supplied vaccine gratis to all its neighbours, except Pakistan from where there was no request for supply of the vaccines. These have been warmly welcomed by these countries and have significantly strengthened ties with these countries.
• The government’s response to the challenges has been to assert its Neighbourhood First and SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) strategies as foreign policy priorities.
• As part of its Indo-Pacific policy: India is also encouraging its Quad partners the U.S., Japan and Australia to collaborate on security and infrastructure initiatives in the neighbourhood, along with promoting forays by other partners like the U.K., France and Germany in the region.
• India approved worth about $2.4 Billion since January 2022, while Bangladesh helped Sri Lanka with a currency swap arrangement.

Source:TH