India today called for expanding the areas of cooperation among the member countries of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) bloc to further deepen mutually beneficial partnership and cooperation.<br/><br/>Addressing the eighth MGC Ministerial Meeting in Manila today, Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh said the cooperation among MGC countries as part of its framework, aims at restoring and re-invigorating these ancient linkages leading up to the building of an inclusive and prosperous society. <br/><br/>The MGC is an initiative by India and five ASEAN countries, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam for cooperation in tourism, culture, education, as well as transport and communications. It was launched in 2000 at Vientiane, Laos.<br/><br/>Both the Ganga and the Mekong are civilisational rivers, and the MGC initiative aims to facilitate closer contacts among the people inhabiting these two major river basins.