India’s Neighbourhood First Policy: As humans are social beings, they have to live in a society and try to have cordial relations with as many people as possible and it applies at all levels of life and the same applies to the countries around the world in the present time.
There needs to be stability within the country and also outside the country in the neighboring countries. India is one of the countries who try to have cordial relations with their neighbors so that there could be growth and stability in the entire region.
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And by keeping this in mind India has always focused on its neighbors and on their political, economic and social status. Since independence all the important leaders of the country have maintained good relations with their neighboring countries through various ways like bilateral agreements, project based collaboration, formation of International Organization etc.
In this article let’s talk about India’s neighborhood first policy which was firstly coined in the year 2014 by our honorable prime minister Shri Narendra Modi.
India and its neighbouring countries
India’s important neighbors are
- China
- Pakistan
- Bangladesh
- Nepal
- Bhutan
- Myanmar
- Sri Lanka
India’s neighborhood first policy mainly focuses on developing good diplomatic and economic relations with its neighboring countries. And to emphasize on mutual benefits and also to enhance the historical ties, focus on cultural values and to promote development and stability in the Indian subcontinent.
Main objectives of India’s neighbourhood first policy
To prioritize its neighbors
India’s first priority is to help its neighbors in times of tragedies and always try to maintain peace and tranquility within its neighboring countries. And this would help in the development of the whole region.
To resolve bilateral issues
There needs to be resolution of issues between the neighboring countries and also with India. As the neighboring countries are the first one which will be helpful for us
To enhance regional connectivity
The aim of the India’s neighbourhood first policy is to enhance the physical and digital connectivity between the neighboring countries and India. India has initiated various initiatives in this direction like the kaladan multimodal project which focuses on increasing connectivity with Myanmar and to promote trade.
The International North South transport corridor which focuses on connecting Asia with Europe to reduce time and cost of trade. These initiatives help in enhancing the regional connectivity between the countries.
To address common challenges
Challenges like Terrorism, drugs, climate change etc. The Golden crescent and the Golden triangle which are the prominent regions of drug influence are in the neighborhood and therefore they impact India and its states.
The problem of drugs has been in prevalence in the Jammu Kashmir area therefore it is impacting the population there and as we also know that the Northeastern region is affected by the drugs from the golden triangle situated in the Myanmar region so there is a need to resolve such challenges. And the question of terrorism has always been a very important issue because Pakistan has been the major source of terrorist attacks and the country itself is suffering from such things.
Cultural and soft power exchanges
India tries to have cultural exchanges with its neighboring countries. It tries to focus on soft power by promoting educational exchanges and collaborations. Through tourism the cultural exchange takes place and as we know that there have been matrimonial alliances with Nepal.
No let’s focus on some of the features through which India tries to promote its neighborhood first policy.
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Features of the – India’s neighbourhood first policy
Bilateral diplomacy
India tries to have good diplomatic relations with its neighboring countries like as we saw in Sri Lanka the political scenario was unstable but the Indian Prime Minister tried by providing aid to the Sri Lankan President and also talked about the 13th Amendment Act of their constitution.
In the case of Bangladesh also we have good relations with its Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who has been appointed for the fifth time the Prime Minister of the country India tries to develop trade relations with Bangladesh whenever its diplomats come to our country.
Collaboration on projects
India TCS various projects for the development of the neighboring countries and for itself also. Like the kaladan multimodal project with Myanmar in which it focuses to reduce the travel time from India mainland to the North Eastern region of India through Myanmar earlier it used to take a long time to go through the chicken neck corridor of India but through this project it would reduce the time and distance.
East container terminal is the project which is being done in collaboration with Sri Lanka and Japan at the port of Colombo. Therefore this shows collaboration between India and its neighboring countries to develop themselves collectively.
Co-operation during covid-19
India held its neighboring countries by providing them the vaccine for the covid-19 pandemic through the Vaccine Maitri and also provided aid to the SAARC countries.
Formation of International Organizations
Organizations like SAARC and BIMSTEC were the ideas initiated by India to improve its relations with its neighboring countries. And to promote Regional Cooperation between the South Asian countries SAARC Organization was made but the increased negative involvement of Pakistan was working against India therefore India formed BIMSTEC to promote its ideas with its neighboring countries.
So these are one of the major features of India’s neighborhood first policy. Now let’s focus on some of the present scenarios which are going around the Indian neighborhood.
Present scenario- India’s neighbourhood first policy
Political disbalance in Myanmar
The political situation in Myanmar has always been unstable and a matter of issue for India also as it it is its neighboring country and India believes that as it is a democratic country and democratic country provides stability to a place in the same way Myanmar should also adopted but in the presence scenario there has been the removal of the democratic regime in Myanmar and this has led to fierce fighting between the Rebels and the Myanmar military.
This has led to the fleeing of Myanmar people in Mizoram and therefore causing a problem of Refugee crisis. And the crisis has developed on the international Indo Myanmar border as the military is doing airstrikes which has injured a lot of people and therefore they are admitted in the hospitals of Mizoram.
This is creating a two front challenge for India because Myanmar is building its relations with China and on the other hand It is causing problems for the North Eastern region. So we need to strengthen our north Eastern borders to have stability in the region.
Political crisis in Bangladesh
The people in Bangladesh have been outraged due to various reasons like unofficial dollar rates,high living cost ,slow revenue and lower foreign Reserves. And therefore the Government of Bangladesh is facing a lot of opposition from its own people and the government is trying to suppress their voices but recently as we know that Sheikh Hasina has for the 5th time come to power. But the refugee problem is also a bone of contention in the relationship of India and Bangladesh which needs to be resolved and both the countries are trying to do so. And insurgency is also one of the major issues.
Teesta river dispute is also one of the problems but the countries are trying to initiate a solution to the problem but the West Bengal government is not ready to come to a conclusion therefore this matter is on hold.
Conflict between Maldives and Lakshadweep
The remarks by the Maldives political ministers have backfired for them. And their food India is promoting Lakshadweep for its tourism and scenic beauty. Maldives has always been a good partner of India but the current scenario is a bit problematic. And India has always helped Maldives in times of crisis but the increased involvement of China is straining the relations and Maldives new leadership is a bit unfriendly to India. But let’s see what happens in the future.
So these are some of the presence scenarios between the neighboring countries and India
Conclusion- India’s neighbourhood first policy
After the independence of our country the national leaders have always tried to have good relations with its neighbors. Be it Jawaharlal Nehru who promoted peace and good relations with his neighbors like China all though they backstabbed, and during Indira Gandhi government which led to the inclusion of Sikkim during her government, the Liberation of the east Pakistan which later became Bangladesh were the examples of the neighbor policy which she promoted of regional assertion and now in the present scene our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has initiated the neighborhood first policy and instead of the look east policy he introduced Act East policy.
We have been vigilant and active in terms of our policies towards our neighboring countries. As if we want to have stability in our country there is a requirement of stability around our neighborhood also because the changes in the political scenario would have an impact on us as we saw in the cases of Bangladesh and Myanmar where the political instability led to the problem of Refugee in India and has impacted the North Eastern regions. But as a responsible country India always tries to have cordial relations with its neighbors and helps them in times of difficulty. We do not have very good relations with our neighbors like Pakistan and China but with China we have trade relations and the new Pakistan government wants to have discussions and dialogue with India. So let’s see where this relationship goes in the future but this India’s neighbourhood first policy is an essential part of our country.
