The World taking cognizance of China’s ever growing belligerence in Asia Pacific was ostensibly a good news for many South Asian countries, including India. Albeit, reinvigorated impetus by the QUAD countries gives the inkling that India has efficaciously deployed her soft power to counter the crescendo of the Sino threat, a closer inspection shows this proposition could not be farther from the truth. India has long attempted to position herself as a leading player in the Indo- Pacific. For fruition of this ideal, it is indispensable for India to strive for perpetual peace with each of its neighbours. Untethering the country from domestic imbroglios and allowing India to focus and allocating her military, diplomatic, intellectual and other resources towards other stakeholders in the region which are not necessarily contiguous.  

Pursuant to this policy, India’s relations with its immediate neighbours have been shepherded under the Gujral doctrine.  The doctrine propounds the pertinence of cordial relations with the neighbours, and enumerates a five pronged strategy to achieve the same. The quintessence of the doctrine lies in  India not asking for reciprocity but giving all that it can in good faith and trust. 

However, India’s goodwill has slumped in recent times. If these developments are not arrested expeditiously, India risks getting ostracised in her neighbourhood. Hence, we shall accord a deeper thought to the growing discontent amongst India’s neighbours individually. 

1. Pakistan and India have been at loggerheads ever since their inception. The bone of contention is Kashmir. An amicable settlement between the two is jeopardized by the internalization of hate towards the other in the domestic politics of the countries. Kashmir, rather than being conceived as a territorial dispute, is portrayed as the yardstick of the nation’s pride. In such a scenario, negotiations through deliberations become an almost unworkable avenue for the politicians  in power. Negotiations involve both the parties making certain concessions to the other side, however, when the disputed territory is extolled and equated to the very pride of a nation, any concession would be perceived as a sign of meekness by the populace, which would inadvertently lead to negative ramifications in the elections. It is hence, in interest of foreign policy that external relations are not enmeshed with domestic politics to the extent that any alteration in the foreign policy is debilitated by the fear of electoral backlash. 

2. Bangladesh is developing at unprecedented levels and beats India and Pakistan in several key social indicators. As an expanding economy heavily reliant on exports, Bangladesh in terms of its political atmosphere is not the same country that India liberated five decades back. India should not expect Bangladesh to have a degree of subservience to as the  ‘big brother’  Undoubtedly, India and Bangladesh have enjoyed amicable relations throughout their history but the recent developments would be the cause of some uneasiness in New Delhi.  Bangladesh reached out to China for funding worth $4.6 Billion for nine new infrastructure projects, most importantly for India, Bangladesh also sought funding for the management and restoration of the Teesta river in order to address the issue of paucity of water. India and Bangladesh have been on the brink of working out an arrangement for the distribution of the river water, but the arrangements never came to fruition owing to the reluctance of West Bengal to comply. The political scenario in aftermath of the NRC further compounded Bangladesh’s apprehensions to sustain ties with India, with even the upper echelons of the ruling party using abhorrent words like “illegal infiltrators” and “termites” for the Bangladeshi diaspora residing in India inadvertently leads to kindling of an anti India feeling amongst the Bangladeshis.

3. Nepal has shown a perceptible pro China tilt in recent times. Although India and Nepal’s border are largely settled, some parts of it are still disputed and the governments of the two countries have long engaged in deliberations in order to settle the border in entirety. These territories were claimed by India when it released a new political map in the aftermath of scraping off of Article 370. Nepal felt a sense of patronization  and  a cold shoulder from India when it’s qualms over territorial intricacies over unsettled borders were left unresolved at the time of abrogation of Article 370. China has emerged as an avenue to act as a counterpoise in the contingency of any tiff with India. However Nepal’s peculiar geography gives India a greater leverage vis-a-vis China. The small country is manned by the Himalayas to the North, making the arduous process for the emigrating unskilled labour a herculean task. Albeit Nepal’s dependence on the Indian economy has slowly been decreasing over the years thanks to the Middle East, India still provides employment to a considerable chunk of the populace and facilitates import of essential commodities in the nation. Having played an indispensable role in Nepal becoming a constitutional republic and subsequently in restoration of democracy, India has a network of reliable interlocutors and commendable institutional memory to tide over the setback.

4. China did not shy away from harassing India’s traditional ally, Bhutan, a nation that China has not yet established diplomatic relations with and the two communicate through New Delhi. By laying claim over the Trashigang district, a territory that is not even contiguous with China but holds serious strategic importance. The message was clear: join us, or get ready to pay the price. 

The author has already touched upon the advantage that India enjoys over China in several of these countries by virtue of geography, topography and historical connections long manifested between the nations but India cannot rest on this goodwill that it has garnered over the years. To prevent these countries from feeling alienated and ignored it is essential that; the matters propounded in the Gujral doctrine are followed in all sincerity. India does not boast of deep coffers like China and hence cannot oblige it’s neighbouring countries by virtue of sanctioning titanic loans. However, she can express her munificence in other way by respecting the social and cultural pluralism of these countries and chalking out mutually beneficial strategies.  The world has awoken to the nefarious debt entrapment of China and even India’s neighbours are not oblivious to it. Sri Lanka has sought to undo it’s port deals with China. India has definitely not lost its footing and needs to act expeditiously in order to consolidate its position. It is imperative that India, in consonance with its perennial ethos, respects the cultural and political diversity in its neighbourhood to emerge as a possible counterpoise to the growing Chinese menace.