India’s ‘neighbourhood first’ policy: the primacy of geoeconomics

ABSTRACT

In India’s foreign policy, its neighbourhood constitutes the core. It is entwined with the security and stability of India’s periphery which is homeland to diverse ethnic groups with familial ties and their socio-cultural affinities that often criss-cross borders. Such connections were ruptured by the 1947 partition of the subcontinent. The majoritarian conception of nation building of the post-colonial states detested shared socio-cultural commonality and emphasised ‘exclusivity’ of national identity which only sharpened the rupture caused by partition. This attitude degenerated into a mindset characterised by mistrust and suspicion and which prevented co-operation that could have optimised the economic potential of the region. India’s over-emphasis on its security linkages with its neighbours made it extra-vigilant to the domestic politics and foreign policy of its South Asian neighbours. Neighbours felt that such vigilance impeded their sovereign foreign policy choices and constrained them in shaping their internal politics. As a result, neighbours resented India. India’s neighbourhood policy, however, has undergone several shifts – it is slowly moving away from an overt security-centric approach to forging development partnerships with its neighbours as a means to ensure security.

KEYWORDS:

• South Asia
• neighbourhood first policy
• development partnerships
• connectivity
• geoeconomics
• regional co-operation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. On 29 September 1959 Nehru wrote to Jigme Dorji clarifying India’s position: ‘Recent developments in Tibet and on our borders have emphasised the need not only for vigilance but for great caution with regard to any step that might be taken … No foreign country can, in these circumstances, commit aggression on Bhutan without taking the risk of a war with India.’

2. Nehru said, ‘so far as the broader question of Bhutan dealing with her external affairs is concerned, we would like to assist in the process and to help Bhutan to train her people so that she can ultimately undertake this responsibility.’

3. BNP was in power from 1991–1996 and 2001–2006. This remained most turbulent period in India’s relations with Bangladesh.