The trade and economic relations committee, considered the first of its kind, will act as a "strategic think-tank" and ensure coordinated approaches across ministries to help do away with ministries working on parallel track and sometimes at cross purposes, the prime minister's media advisor Sanjaya Baru said on Monday.

The focus of the committee will be on "our major economic partners as well as our immediate neighbours," he said.

The new committee will have eight permanent members including Finance Minister P Chidambaram, External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath, key economic advisors of the Prime Minister and National Security Advisor M K Narayanan.

Baru said growing globalisation and enhanced economic integration with major powers as well as other Asian countries, including those in South Asia, South East Asia, East Asia Central and West Asia, the prime minister felt it was necessary to take a coordinated and holistic view of India's economic relations.

The decision to set up the committee assumes significance in view of India's looking to expand economic relations with the United States, China, Japan, European Union, Asean and Bimstec.

The prime minister will undertake two important visits in July this year --a visit to the US and participation in a summit of Group of Eight leaders in Scotland.

The new committee can invite any minister concerned with a specific agenda and the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary, who is its convenor, can call secretaries of ministries for discussions, Baru said.

He said the committee could examine free trade agreements, comprehensive economic cooperation agreements and other forms of bilateral, regional and multilateral economic and trade ties.