Managing a Tough Neighbourhood
India tried to stabilise its volatile periphery in 2024; it should play the long and pragmatic game to create more wins in 2025 India’s neighbourhood in 2024 remained in ferment, even as the country tried to steady its bilateral relationships in South Asia. Through the year, India worked to stabilize its periphery: engaging cautiously with […]
Managing a Tough Neighbourhood
India’s neighbourhood policy demands strategic patience, embracing occasional anti-India regimes, navigating Chinese competition, and rejecting zero-sum approaches. A durable framework for regional security and prosperity should prioritize grants over loans, emphasizing economic and security cooperation, connectivity, and humanitarian assistance. Engagement spans energy collaboration, development aid, defence partnerships, disaster relief, cultural exchanges, and infrastructure projects. Encouraging Quad partners like the U.S., Japan, and Australia to join South Asia’s economic initiatives will enhance regional stability, despite occasional differences. Reviving SAARC will offer a more manageable mechanism for dialogue, complementing sub-regional platforms like BIMSTEC and BBIN, while reducing reliance on the China-led SCO.