{"id":185809,"date":"2022-05-21T20:24:19","date_gmt":"2022-05-21T14:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=185809"},"modified":"2022-05-21T20:25:03","modified_gmt":"2022-05-21T14:55:03","slug":"the-neighbourhood-in-turmoil-lessons-for-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/the-neighbourhood-in-turmoil-lessons-for-india\/","title":{"rendered":"The neighbourhood in turmoil, lessons for India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Context<\/strong>: India\u2019s foreign policy<\/strong> while dealing with the neighbouring countries in the South Asia Region has changed<\/strong> from 2016 to the present.<\/p>\n

Rather than prevailing over any uncooperative neighbour using any means possible, India has now shifted towards using soft-power diplomacy, thereby improving ties with each of the South Asian countries.<\/p>\n

However, it has virtually ignored the political developments in Pakistan.<\/p>\n

What are the changes that have taken place in India\u2019s foreign policy?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Foreign Policy pre-2016<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Government of India adopted a \u201cmuscular foreign policy<\/strong>\u201d with the uncooperative South Asian neighbour<\/strong>. For example, India put Pakistan on notice on terror attacks. It also cancelled Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan. Further, India has been alleged to have intervened in the Sri Lanka\u2019s and Nepal\u2019s domestic Politics.<\/p>\n

Foreign Policy post 2016
\n<\/strong><\/h5>\n

India has abandoned its uniformly muscular \u201cone size fits all<\/strong>\u201d approach to the region. At present, the government has made peace with a much more<\/strong> consensual<\/strong>, and conciliatory policy<\/strong> in the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n

–<\/strong> For example, India has not been held responsible in any of its neighbouring countries, namely Myanmar, Nepal, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka which have undergone electoral changes.<\/p>\n

India has been improving<\/strong> its ties<\/strong> with each country (except Pakistan) in South Asia through high-level visits, extending development aid and lines of credit, and enabling a rush of soft power diplomacy.<\/p>\n

India is focused on people<\/strong> in the neighbourhood rather than just those in power. For example, in Afghanistan<\/strong>, India negotiated with Pakistani officials to ensure it could send food grains<\/strong> for the Afghan people.<\/p>\n

India has toned down rhetoric<\/strong> on domestic issu<\/strong>es in the neighbourhood. For example, the Indian Government\u2019s public reaction to Durga Pooja violence<\/strong> against Bangladesh\u2019s Hindu minority in 2021.<\/p>\n

Way Forward<\/strong><\/h5>\n

India cannot maintain a silent<\/strong> or \u201cneutral\u201d position <\/strong>in relations to South Asian Countries.<\/strong> This is not in the interest of India.<\/p>\n

–<\/strong> For example, India faces the direct impact of almost every crisis in South Asian country like refugee influx, economic crisis etc. Therefore, they must be watched more closely.<\/p>\n

India should learn that the potent combination of populism, hyper-nationalism, religious majoritarianism<\/strong>, and a strident anti-elitism<\/strong> does not pay in the long run.<\/p>\n

–<\/strong> For example, the popular leader may come to power, but their popularity can decline sharply and suddenly. For example, fall of K.P. Oli, Imran Khan and Mahindra Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka. This means nothing is forever, especially in a democracy.<\/p>\n

The economy matters<\/strong> above all.<\/p>\n

–<\/strong> For example, In Pakistan<\/strong>, Nepal<\/strong> and Sri Lanka<\/strong>, the defeat of populists has come due to slowdown in growth<\/strong>, jobs<\/strong> and rising inflation<\/strong>, instead of the Opposition parties. The economic mismanagement <\/strong>has brought changes in the neighbourhood<\/p>\n

India must survey the impact of new vulnerabilities<\/strong> on smaller neighbouring countries as the vulnerabilities could be exploited by global powers<\/strong> like China<\/p>\n

New Delhi must find newer ways to energise regional groupings<\/strong> such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for<\/strong> Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC<\/strong>) and the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal (BBIN) Initiative<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Finally, the Indian government must learn that lack of consensus building<\/strong> in political culture let down the popular leaders in neighbouring democracies.<\/p>\n

–<\/strong> For example, Rajapaksa, Oli and Khan turned their opposition into \u201cthe enemy\u201d, and froze out the media, non-governmental organisations<\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong> The post is based on an article \u201cThe neighbourhood in turmoil, lessons for India<\/strong>\u201d published in the \u201cThe Hindu<\/strong>\u201d on 21st<\/sup> May 2022<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Context: India\u2019s foreign policy while dealing with the neighbouring countries in the South Asia Region has changed from 2016 to the present. Rather than prevailing over any uncooperative neighbour using any means possible, India has now shifted towards using soft-power diplomacy, thereby improving ties with each of the South Asian countries. However, it has virtually… Continue reading The neighbourhood in turmoil, lessons for India<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10328,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,9],"tags":[212,10498],"class_list":["post-185809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-public","tag-gs-paper-2","tag-the-hindu","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10328"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185809\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}