{"id":30796,"date":"2018-10-26T18:14:41","date_gmt":"2018-10-26T12:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=30796"},"modified":"2018-10-26T18:14:41","modified_gmt":"2018-10-26T12:44:41","slug":"make-the-neighbourhood-first-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/make-the-neighbourhood-first-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Make the neighbourhood first again"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/lead\/make-the-neighbourhood-first-again\/article22952356.ece\"><b>Make the neighbourhood first again<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>Context:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the present time, India\u2019s connect with its South Asian neighbours is weaker than it has been for a very long time.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the reasons for which India\u2019s present state of relation with its South Asian neighbors is weaker than it has been?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>SAARC not in ideal terms with India:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first problem is that for various reasons, other governments in the SAARC region are <\/span><b>either not on ideal terms with India, or facing political turbulence<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example: In the Maldives, President Yameen Abdul Gayoom has gone out of his way to challenge the India, whether it is on his crackdown on the opposition, invitations to China, or even breaking with India\u2019s effort to isolate Pakistan at SAARC.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Nepal, the K.P. Sharma Oli government is certainly not India\u2019s first choice.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other parts of the neighbourhood, where relations have been comparatively better for the past few years, upcoming elections could turn the tables on India.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>China\u2019s unprecedented attacks:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next problem is the <\/span><b>impact of China\u2019s unprecedented attacks into each of these countries.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example: Instead of telling the Nepal government to sort out issues with India, as it had in the past, China opened up an array of alternative trade and connectivity options after the 2015 India-Nepal border blockade: from the highway to Lhasa, cross-border railway lines to the development of dry ports.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>India\u2019s hard power tactics in the neighborhood:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The third issue is that the Modi government\u2019s decision to <\/span><b>use hard power tactics in the neighbourhood <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">has had a boomerang effect.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example: The \u201csurgical strikes\u201d on Pakistan of 2016 have been followed by a greater number of ceasefire violations and cross-border infiltration on the Line of Control.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While many of these factors are hard to reverse, the fundamental facts of geography and shared cultures in South Asia are also undeniable, and India must focus its efforts to return to a more comfortable peace, and to <\/span><b>\u201cMaking the Neighbourhood First Again\u201d.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the measures to be taken to renew the relationship with its South Asian neighbors?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Firstly, India\u2019s most potent tool is its <\/span><b>soft power.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, its successes in Bhutan and Afghanistan, have much more to do with its <\/span><b>development assistance than its defence assistance.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, after the Doklam crisis was defused in 2017, India also moved swiftly to resolve differences with Bhutan on <\/span><b>hydropower pricing.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Secondly, instead of opposing every project by China in the region, the government <\/span><b>must attempt a three-pronged approach.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(a) Wherever possible, India should collaborate with China in the manner it has over the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic corridor.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(b) Whenever it feels a project is a threat to its interests, India should make a counter-offer to the project, if necessary in collaboration with its Quadrilateral partners, Japan, the U.S. and Australia.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(c) India should coexist with projects that do not necessitate intervention, while formulating a set of South Asian principles for sustainable development assistance that can be used across the region.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is possible if India and China reset bilateral ties, which have seen a marked slide over the past few years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thirdly, it will also be impossible to renew the compact with the neighbours without <\/span><b>reviving the SAARC process.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fourthly, it is suggested that leaders of SAARC countries <\/span><b>should meet more often informally, they should interfere less in the internal workings of each other\u2019s governments, and there should be more interaction at every level of government.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fifthly, just as Indonesia, the biggest economy in the ASEAN, allowed smaller countries such as Singapore to take the lead, India too <\/span><b>must take a back seat in decision-making, enabling others to build a more harmonious SAARC process<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Make the neighbourhood first again Context: In the present time, India\u2019s connect with its South Asian neighbours is weaker than it has been for a very long time. What are the reasons for which India\u2019s present state of relation with its South Asian neighbors is weaker than it has been? SAARC not in ideal terms&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/make-the-neighbourhood-first-again\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Make the neighbourhood first again<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-test-1","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704671075},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30796","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\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30796\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}