Neighbourhood First is being stress-tested by the China factor across South Asia. With reference to India’s response across Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Maldives, examine.
Subtopic: IR · Neighbourhood
How to structure your answer
Introduction: Neighbourhood First, articulated in 2014, sits on Gujral Doctrine asymmetry and is now competing with China's BRI footprint and India's HADR-first responses.
Body: Three dimensions — (i) economic — Lines of Credit, ITEC training, and the Indian Rupee Trade settlement framework deployed in Sri Lanka's 2022 crisis (about USD 4.5 billion) and Bangladesh post 2024 political transition; (ii) connectivity — Trincomalee oil tank-farm with Lanka IOC, BBIN MVA, India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, Kaladan Multimodal; (iii) political churn — Maldives 'India Out' since 2023, Bangladesh interim government post-August 2024, Nepal's revised currency map controversy.
Way forward / Conclusion: Deepen people-to-people HADR (Operation Brahma, 2025), keep delivery cycles under three years, and convert SAARC paralysis into BIMSTEC-driven sub-regionalism.
Written within the word limit
228 words · target 250 words · 14 min
Introduction:
Neighbourhood First, articulated in 2014, sits on Gujral Doctrine (1996-97) non-reciprocal asymmetry but is now stress-tested by China's BRI footprint, requiring India to combine concessional finance, connectivity and HADR-first delivery across Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives.
Economic stabilisation: India deployed about USD 4.5 billion in credit lines, currency swaps and ITEC training during Sri Lanka's 2022 economic crisis, and continued engagement with Bangladesh through the Indian Rupee Trade settlement framework after the August 2024 political transition; Bhutan's Gelephu Mindfulness City partnership (2024) extends concessional-finance leverage; ITEC training and capacity-building, including for Nepal's bureaucracy and Maldives medical professionals, anchor the soft-power layer of the doctrine.
Connectivity: Trincomalee oil tank-farm with Lanka IOC (operationalised 2022 onwards), BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement, the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project build a sub-regional architecture under BIMSTEC — whose Sixth Summit at Bangkok in April 2024 reset the agenda after SAARC paralysis since 2014.
Political churn: The Maldives 'India Out' campaign since 2023 led to military-personnel withdrawal in May 2024, Nepal's revised currency-map controversy and Bangladesh's interim government test the doctrine; Operation Brahma's HADR response to Myanmar's 2025 earthquake reinforced India's first-responder identity even where bilateral politics has cooled.
Way forward / Conclusion:
Keep delivery cycles under three years, deepen people-to-people HADR through Operation Brahma-style first response, and convert SAARC paralysis into BIMSTEC-driven sub-regionalism, with the Bangkok Summit (April 2024) as the working template for a connectivity-and-capacity bargain that out-prices BRI.
What an examiner expects to see
- Neighbourhood First policy articulated in 2014
- Gujral Doctrine 1996–97 — non-reciprocal asymmetry
- India's Sri Lanka assistance approximately USD 4.5 billion in 2022–23
- Trincomalee oil tank-farm Lanka IOC operationalised 2022 onwards
- Maldives India Out campaign 2023 and military withdrawal May 2024
- Bangladesh interim government from August 2024
- BIMSTEC Sixth Summit Bangkok April 2024
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- Sri Lanka economic crisis 2022 — India credit lines
- Maldives military withdrawal May 2024
- Operation Brahma — India's HADR to Myanmar earthquake 2025
- Bangladesh political transition August 2024
- India-Bhutan Gelephu Mindfulness City partnership 2024