“A new leadership at the helm, the Ministry of External Affairs had restructured internal divisions to create a new one, focusing exclusively on the Indian Ocean region,” writes Devirupa Mitra.
“But even after the division has officially come into existence, its contours are yet to be fully mapped. It seems the ministry cannot quite decide whether to take on everything from piracy to bilateral ties in one fell swoop or it would be too much to chew.
The new Indian Ocean region division was planned as an offshoot of the earlier BSM department, which looked after Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Myanmar—all very crucial for India’s foreign policy
After the last joint secretary (BSM) Harshvardhan Shringla handed over his baton in the first week of January, the department was split down the middle with Sri Lanka and Maldives made part of a larger focus on Indian Ocean region.”
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