INDIA'S 'NEIGHBOURHOOD FIRST POLICY'

India’s strategic location in South Asia, bordered by countries such as Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Sri Lanka, creates a foundation for a complex and dynamic network of relationships with its neighbours. This geographical positioning shapes India’s diplomatic, economic, and security engagements in the region. The concept of the Neighbourhood First Policy came into being in 2008.  It was conceived to bolster relations with certain priority countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. India’s “Neighbourhood First Policy” (NFP), also referred to as the South Asian Foreign Policy (SAFP), centers on strengthening ties with neighbouring South Asian countries. This strategy focuses on enhancing peace and cooperation in the region, emphasizing trade, connectivity, and people-to-people exchanges with countries on India’s periphery. The Ministry of External Affairs (Economic Diplomacy Division) brief states, “India’s Neighbourhood First Policy rests on India’s prime responsibility to lift its neighbours to establish a rules-based order to preserve multilateralism and to establish peace and security in the Indian Ocean.”

Purpose of India's Neighbourhood First Policy

Regional Stability: Creation of a stable and peaceful regional environment is the precondition to the overall security and development of South Asia. Stability in the neighbourhood contributes to India's own security.

Economic Integration: Promote economic integration through increased trade, investment, and connectivity. This shall be achieved by enhancing infrastructure in terms of roads, railways, and ports for smoother and more efficient regional trade.

Mutual Development: To aid and support the developmental needs of neighboring countries with respect to development of infrastructure and capacity-building initiatives.

Cultural and People-to-People Ties: Strengthening sociocultural bonds and people-to-people contacts through cultural exchanges, educational collaborations, and tourism, thereby fostering a sense of shared regional identity.

Salient Features of India's Neighbourhood First Policy

Economic Cooperation: Focused on enhancing two-way trade, creating free trade agreements, and supporting market access; joint ventures in infrastructure projects including highways, ports, and power plants; provision for financial assistance and credit lines for execution of various initiatives of development.

Security Cooperation: Enhanced cooperation in border security, intelligence sharing, and joint counter-terrorism operations; conducting joint military exercises and training with the requisite equipment support.

Connectivity Initiatives: To establish and build road, rail, and air links; develop cross-border energy projects relating to hydroelectric projects and energy grids.

People-to-People Ties: Cultural exchanges and heritage projects; scholarships also to be provided and institutions created for academic exchanges; tourism to be encouraged through simplified visa regimes and joint efforts in tourism promotion.

Development Assistance: Humanitarian assistance during natural disasters and crises; technical assistance on issues like health, education, and technology.

Diplomatic Engagements: Regular visits by high-level officials and diplomatic consultations; mechanisms for dialogue on issues of dispute and cooperation.

Significance of Neighbourhood First Policy for India

Strategic Initiative: Aims at engaging with immediate neighbours in prioritizing and strengthening relations for regional stability, economic growth, and cooperative security.

Regional Stability: It aspires to create an environment of peace and stability, reducing chances of any regional conflicts affecting India, and thus enabling it to focus more on internal development.

Combating External Influence: The single most imperative element of countering the ever-growing influence of external powers, mainly China, within South Asia through stronger ties with neighbors.

Economic Gains: It speaks of greater trade and connectivity, markets for Indian goods and services, and additional impetus to India's economic growth. The trade with South Asian countries has been about USD 24.74 billion in 2020-21.

Developmental Aid: The huge developmental aid and investments in infrastructure projects that India offers act as conduits for regional development, goodwill, and creation of conducive environments that invite economic partnerships.

Cultural and Social Bonds: Common historical and cultural ties are leveraged to strengthen bonds wherein educational exchanges and cultural diplomacy initiatives enhance people-to-people ties and mutual understanding.

Environmental and Humanitarian Efforts: Disaster management and climate change cooperation for sustainable growth through collaboration. India's emergency responses to regional natural disasters, as in Nepal after the earthquake in 2015 and in Maldives and Sri Lanka because of the tsunami in 2004, demonstrate the spirit of regional solidarity.

 

Challenges to India's Neighbourhood First Policy

Geopolitical Challenges: Growing Chinese influence because of investments like BRI in countries around India, such as the CPEC in Pakistan, investments in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and others, come largely at New Delhi's expense.

Regional Rivalries: Traditional rivalries and border disputes remain an impediment to deeper cooperation. Historical conflicts with Pakistan and China have frequent skirmishes and standoffs that contribute to the prolongation of regional instability.

Economic Challenges: Huge trade imbalances are managed with China alone, which has a trade deficit of USD 44.1 billion in 2020-21. Developmental differences amongst the South Asian countries lead to problems in making equal growth and integration on a regional basis.

Political Challenges: Domestic dynamics and internal policy processes in the neighboring nations affect the bilateral ties. Political instability in Nepal and Myanmar disrupts diplomatic initiatives and collaborative projects.

Security Challenges: The porous borders, particularly those with Nepal and Myanmar, give way to some security issues like illegal migration and trafficking. Problems of cross-border terrorism from Pakistan and insurgency issues along Myanmar and Bangladesh borders persist. There have been over 2,000 terror-related incidents in the last decade alone in Jammu and Kashmir.

Environmental and Humanitarian Challenges: Natural disasters are frequent, and relief efforts are organized in coordination with disaster management measures. Cooperative efforts to combat climate change are stymied by vast differences in national capabilities and priorities.