Narendra Modi Directs Government Secretaries to Dismantle Departmental Silos

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the third high-level meeting with Secretaries to the Government of India on August 20, 2026, at his residence in New Delhi. The session focused on a future action agenda for ministries overseeing governance, security, external affairs, infrastructure, and connectivity.

Modi directed officials to abandon the practice of working in silos, which he characterized as a problem of mindset, and instead adopt a whole-of-government approach based on collective responsibility. He suggested that the coordination mechanisms used during the COVID-19 pandemic and the West Asia crisis should be permanently integrated into the government's work culture to ensure interoperability persists beyond crisis situations.

Key priorities for the administration include treating data as a national asset and integrating Artificial Intelligence with human judgment to drive innovation. In the industrial and maritime sectors, the Prime Minister called for the strengthening of the domestic defense industry to increase global competitiveness and a shift toward port-led development to better connect manufacturing and export units.

To modernize policymaking, Modi encouraged greater collaboration between government departments, universities, and youth to introduce unconventional ideas into the legislative process.