INDIA IS A VICTIM OF NEGATIVE NEIGHBOURHOOD POLITICS
Many believe that we have not managed relations with our neighbours well enough. Is the fault mostly ours? We need to look at our neighbourhood policy — including that under the Modi government — more objectively, keeping some pertinent points in mind.
Smaller countries feel insecure as neighbours to a big power. To avoid subservience and maintain their separate identity, they are prone to assert their independence. They will seek the support of external powers as a counterweight. Concerns about their domestic politics being manipulated and a client leadership put in place by the bigger neighbour impedes a fuller relationship.
Mutually beneficial economic ties are often sacrificed because of negative political thinking. Smaller countries also have unrealistic expectations, as they believe that the bigger country should be generous and not demand reciprocity, and as generosity is not defined in scale and generous acts are quickly forgotten, the problem of unmet expectations endures.
In India’s case, all elements of this syndrome are at play. Our neighbours being part of the Indian civilisational space, they fear smothering by India. Wooing them much more, as some advocate, could well increase resistance depending on their internal politics, the balance between various factions and relations with third countries that court them.
India is constantly accused of interference in the internal affairs of neighbours. While India cannot altogether stand aloof and has to pay legitimate politics within diplomatic bounds to protect its interests, India’s interference is exaggerated to serve domestic politics.
This legacy of Partition survives in Pakistan’s case and fuels its unremitpoints ting animosity towards us. An increasingly dysfunctional state like Pakistan cannot make peace with India. No amount of dialogue will change this reality. The flip-flops of successive Indian governments in their Pakistan policy, including the initial outreach by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nawaz Sharif, his Pakistani counterpart, and his tough posture towards Islamabad subsequently, denotes the intractable nature of the problem, not merely our inconsistency.
Today, we have to take into account the US factor in dealing with Pakistan and the China-Pakistan nexus has become a huge challenge for us. But it is not Pakistan alone that uses the China card against us.
Nepal does this to supposedly escape India’s total domination. It has long resisted water resource cooperation with India that is so clearly in the interest of both countries, and now has given China big openings in this sector. Modi’s two visits to Nepal enthused the Nepalese but the disruption of oil supplies because of turmoil in the Terai created a deep anti-Indian backlash.
With the change of government in Kathmandu the situation has improved for us, but this a reprieve till the next crisis.
Virtually all our neighbours support China’s One Belt, One Road project and its Saarc entry despite India’s position.
Under Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and the settlement of land boundary and maritime disputes, ties with Dhaka have improved remarkably. But, the Opposition is accusing her of a sell-out to India, which demonstrates the complexities India faces in forging better ties.
The ruling classes in our neighbours have to take enlightened decisions on optimal relations with India. The burden is not on India alone. Bhutan provides an excellent example of a country that has preserved its unique personality and independence while maintaining close ties with India without the need for external balancing.