India’s Neighbourhood Policy During 2014– 2019: Political Context and Policy Outcomes
| Author | Vinay Kaura,Meena Rani |
| Date | 01 March 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120906072 |
| Published date | 01 March 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
India’s Neighbourhood
Policy During 2014–
2019: Political Context
and Policy Outcomes
Vinay Kaura1 and Meena Rani2
Abstract
After Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India in 2014, New Delhi has
been striving hard to achieve for India the great power status by consolidating
its dominant position in South Asia and expanding its reach in the Indian Ocean.
There have been many successes when it comes to foreign policy in general.
However, five years after Modi began his term by inviting leaders of all SAARC
countries to his swearing-in ceremony, the expectations aroused by his govern-
ment’s neighbourhood policy and the energy invested in driving it seem to have
faded, leading to a shift in focus on BIMSTEC. This article looks at India’s bilateral
relations with India’s neighbours and argues that the major challenges come from
insufficient perception management, lack of regional connectivity, gaps in project
implementation, and external environment created by China’s unprecedented
foray into each of India’s neighbours. The policy planners and decision-makers
need to do serious policy homework to improve the outcomes.
Keywords
Modi government, neighbourhood, strategic, foreign policy, BRI
Article
Indian Journal of Public
Administration
66(1) 10–27, 2020
© 2020 IIPA
Reprints and permissions:
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DOI: 10.1177/0019556120906072
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1 Assistant Professor, International Affairs and Security Studies, Sardar Patel University of Police,
Security and Criminal Justice, SPUP Satellite Campus, Rajasthan Police Academy, Jaipur, India.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India.
Corresponding author:
Dr Vinay Kaura, Assistant Professor, International Affairs and Security Studies, Sardar Patel University
of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, SPUP Satellite Campus, Rajasthan Police Academy, Jaipur,
India.
E-mails: vinaykaura76@gmail.com; vinay@policeuniversity.ac.in
Kaura and Rani 11
Introduction
The political, economic and strategic landscape in India’s immediate neighbour-
hood has changed dramatically. A power transition is under way in the global
order, with the centre of gravity of power shifting towards the ‘Indo-Pacific’.
Global geopolitical and geo-economic shifts have created remarkable opportuni-
ties and challenges for India since Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014
following a landslide electoral victory. Modi’s charismatic personality and his
strong domestic political position have allowed him a great deal of freedom and
confidence to build a new kind of foreign policy for India.
If Modi’s foreign policy has been characterised by a desire to break the mould
of the past and a penchant for risk-taking, he has also been criticised for prioritiz-
ing showmanship over substance. However, he has made obvious departures from
some areas of former Indian foreign policy, while in others he has deepened and
broadened existing relationships (Ganguly, 2017a, pp. 131–143). This study dem-
onstrates that there have not been extraordinary or seminal doctrinal changes in
the conduct of India’s neighbourhood policy as the Modi government has largely
continued with the past with some much needed modifications.
Neighbourhood Policy: Changing Orientation
Though India may attempt to fashion for itself a new international identity through
its engagement with all major powers, it cannot wish away the realities of its dif-
ficult continental geography. Not surprisingly, India’s relations with its South
Asian neighbours have often been the focus of Indian diplomacy. Continuing with
this tradition, the ‘Neighbours First’ has been the striking feature of the Modi
government’s diplomatic approach. In the government’s strategic imagination,
India must resolve its differences with its small neighbours, project better image
and foster enhanced connectivity.
India’s South Asia policy under the ‘Modi doctrine’ seeks to focus on tightening
the bond between India and its neighbours, and better serving India’s economic and
social development strategy by promoting regional and sub-regional connectivity.
Modi often projects himself as an innovative and decisive leader who could make
things happen. His remarkable dynamism on foreign policy front has led some
commentators including C. Raja Mohan to suggest that the Modi government’s
foreign policy has marked the emergence of an Indian ‘Third Republic’ (Mohan,
2015). According to this logic, the period from the country’s independence to the
beginning of liberalisation was the ‘First Republic’; the ‘Second Republic’ started
after the end of the Cold War; and the ‘Third Republic’ began with Modi at the
helm of affairs, with non-ideological worldview guiding India’s global ambitions.
However, structural problems have often imposed limitations on Modi’s ambitions
for India. As Sumit Ganguly has pointed out, there has not been any fundamental
transformation of India’s foreign policy since Modi’s hope to transform India’s
relations with China and Pakistan and to extend India’s influence in South and
Southeast Asia has not yielded very positive outcomes (Ganguly, 2018). New
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