External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is in Sri Lanka for his first bilateral meeting since the third Narendra Modi government was sworn in earlier this month as India looks to reinforce its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
Though Jaishankar’s first foreign engagement under Modi 3.0 was his recent visit to Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod for BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa), his visit to India’s closest maritime neighbour Sri Lanka is his first bilateral engagement under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s third term.
“Reaffirming India’s Neighbourhood First Policy, the visit underlines India’s continued commitment to Sri Lanka as its closest maritime neighbour and time-tested friend. The visit will add momentum to connectivity projects and other mutually beneficial cooperation across sectors,” said External Affairs Ministry in a statement ahead of Jaishankar’s visit.
Emphasis on ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy
Historically, India’s relationships with its neighbouring countries have been crucial to its geopolitical strategy and economic growth. However, over the years, these relationships have faced challenges ranging from border disputes to economic competition.
PM Modi’s emphasis on the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy marks a significant shift towards proactive diplomacy and economic integration.
This has been reflective in his successive terms as he has reached out to his neighbours with a renewed focus every time he took the top job.
PM Modi’s decision to travel to Bhutan in June 2014 marked his inaugural official foreign trip as Prime Minister, underscoring his government’s commitment to revitalising India’s foreign policy priorities, particularly with its neighboring.
He also made history by becoming the first Indian Prime Minister in 17 years to visit Kathmandu for a bilateral summit, where his address to Nepal’s Parliament received widespread acclaim.
Meanwhile, then-External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj embarked on her first official standalone visit to Bangladesh, following her accompanying Prime Minister Modi to Bhutan. She also undertook diplomatic visits to Nepal and Myanmar.
Jaishankar’s visit to Sri Lanka today, his first bilateral assignment at the beginning of PM Modi’s third term, is yet another example of how India is committed to push its ‘First Neighbourhood’ policy.
A year into his term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave one of the biggest surprises in India’s diplomatic history, when he chose to have a stopover at Lahore to personally wish his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on his 66th birthday and also attend his granddaughter’s wedding at his palatial house at Raiwind.
After his visit, the relations between India and Pakistan had started to look positive after a chill of several months.
Soon after the surprise visit, the Pathankot Air Force station was attacked on January 2. In a gunbattle with security forces, four militants, who allegedly entered the area in army fatigues, were gunned down. The Indian Air Force lost three of its personnel. United Jihad Council claimed responsibility for the attack. India later nailed ISI’s hand in the attack, while Pakistan denied the accusations.
The attack again soured the relationship between the two countries. Thereafter several developments, including the arrest of alleged Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Yadav, the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani in an encounter in Kashmir, Uri attack and a subsequent air-strikes by India on a Jaish camp in Pakistan’s Balakot just could not get the relationship back on track. India has refused to begin dialogue with Pakistan since the Uri attack, insisting that cross-border terror has to stop first.
So far as China is concerned, tensions between the two countries increased dramatically after a clash along their disputed border in 2020. Despite more than a dozen rounds of talks since then, there has been no resolution and only minor progress.
Swearing-in invites say a lot
The fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi accords highest priority to the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy was very much reflective in his invites to leaders of neighbouring countries for his swearing-in ceremony as he took oath as the Prime Minister for the third time, a feat achieved only by the first Prime Minister of India Jawahar Lal Nehru.
The high-profile event was attended by Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe, Bhutan Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth, Seychelles Vice-President Ahmed Afif, and Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu.
Muizzu inclusion as an invitee surprised diplomatic circles in view of the currently strained ties between New Delhi and Male. However, Muizzu was on his first visit to New Delhi since coming to power in November last year on the back of an “India Out” campaign and taking a range of steps to move the Maldives closer to China in areas ranging from defence to trade.
Within hours of taking oath, Muizzu demanded the withdrawal of Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives to operate three aircraft used for humanitarian missions. India completed the process of replacing the military personnel with civilian experts last month.
Despite these anti-India measures, Muizzu was welcomed with open arms with the Ministry of External Affairs saying “India and Maldives are maritime partners and close neighbours”.
While accepting the invitation, Muizzu too said that he looked forward to working with PM Modi to strengthen relations with India and noted that bilateral ties are “heading in the positive direction, as would be demonstrated by this visit”.
After the ceremony, PM Modi met the visiting leaders at Rashtrapati Bhavan, reiterating India’s dedication to its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and the ‘SAGAR’ vision, which stands for Security and Growth for All in the Region.
In his third term, PM Modi affirmed India’s ongoing commitment to fostering “peace, progress, and prosperity” in collaboration with regional partners, alongside its pursuit of a developed India by 2047.
PM Modi advocated for strengthening people-to-people ties and enhancing regional connectivity. He also emphasised India’s role in amplifying the voice of the Global South on the global stage.
Even as India now has a growing clout in the world, PM Modi could have easily chosen to invite superpowers to the swearing-in ceremony.
First term, first priority
In 2014, when Narendra Modi took oath as the Prime Minister, he had a clear vision of giving India’s relationship with its neighbours a fillip.
Even then he had invited the leaders of the eight member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) along with Mauritius for his swearing-in, a first-of-its-kind initiative. In 2019, leaders of the members of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) as well as Mauritius and Kyrgyzstan were the guests at his inauguration.
In his address to the nation on Independence Day during his first term, PM Modi reached out to the SAARC countries and urged them to join the battle against problems that go beyond borders – the challenge of poverty and development.
“India’s foreign policy has many facets,” said Modi, “But I want to focus on our relations with our neighbours in my speech,” he told the audience at the Red Fort that included more than 140 diplomats who were provided a live translation of the speech over headphones for the first time.
PM Modi said the SAARC region had a common history relating to the freedom movement.
“Our common forefathers fought for freedom together. If without weapons or resources we could defeat a powerful sultanate (British rule), can’t we win against poverty together?” Though PM Modi did not elaborate on how he planned to take his vision forward, but his speech marked a new beginning in India’s relations with its neighbours.
With inputs from agencies
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Jaishankar in Sri Lanka: A boost to PM Modi’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy in third term
