India and South Asia: Neighbourhood First

Prerequisites: India and its Neighbourhood — overview

The Hook: A Treaty That Survived Three Wars

The Core Concept

The geography of the neighbourhood

India’s land border is about 15,107 km long (Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of Border Management). Knowing which states touch which neighbour is a classic Prelims item.

Sri Lanka and the Maldives are maritime neighbours, separated from India by the Palk Strait/Gulf of Mannar and the Eight Degree Channel respectively.

The policy frame: Neighbourhood First

The phrase Neighbourhood First became the label for India’s South Asia policy from May 2014, when the leaders of all SAARC countries were invited to the new government’s swearing-in. Its logic is old: a stable, prosperous periphery is the cheapest form of national security. Its tools are newer:

• Connectivity — roads, railways, inland waterways, power grids and ports across borders.
• Development partnership — lines of credit and grants for infrastructure, health and education.
• First responder role — disaster relief and crisis support.
• Maritime security — the SAGAR vision (Security and Growth for All in the Region), announced in Mauritius in March 2015.

graph TD
    A[Neighbourhood First] --> B[Connectivity: roads, rail, waterways, grids]
    A --> C[Development partnership: credit lines and grants]
    A --> D[First responder: disaster and crisis aid]
    A --> E[Security: counter-terrorism, maritime SAGAR]
    A --> F[People: open borders, pilgrims, education]
    B --> G[Goal: stable, prosperous, India-friendly periphery]
    C --> G
    D --> G
    E --> G
    F --> G

Country by country — the anchors

Pakistan

Under the Indus Waters Treaty, the eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas, Sutlej) are allocated to India for unrestricted use; the western rivers (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) to Pakistan, with India allowed limited uses including run-of-the-river hydropower. A Permanent Indus Commission with one commissioner from each side manages the treaty.

Afghanistan

• Strategic Partnership Agreement (October 2011) — the first such agreement Afghanistan signed with any country.
• Indian-built assets: the Zaranj–Delaram highway (built by the Border Roads Organisation, completed 2009), the Afghan Parliament building (inaugurated December 2015) and the Afghan-India Friendship Dam (Salma Dam) in Herat (inaugurated June 2016).
• After the Taliban takeover in August 2021, India closed its embassy and later re-engaged through a technical team and humanitarian aid (wheat, medicines, vaccines).
• Access to Afghanistan runs around Pakistan, through Iran’s Chabahar port; in May 2024 India signed a 10-year contract to operate the Shahid Beheshti terminal at Chabahar.

Nepal

• Treaty of Peace and Friendship (1950) — the basis of the open border and of reciprocal treatment of each other’s nationals.
• Mahakali Treaty (1996) on integrated development of the Mahakali (Sarada) river, including the Pancheshwar project.
• Gorkha soldiers from Nepal serve in the Indian Army under a 1947 tripartite agreement (India, Nepal, UK).
• Kalapani–Lipulekh–Limpiyadhura: Nepal issued a new political map claiming this area in May 2020 and amended its constitution in June 2020 to adopt it; India rejects the claim.

Bhutan

• Treaty of Friendship (1949), revised in February 2007 — the clause saying Bhutan would be “guided by” India’s advice in external relations was replaced by a clause on cooperating on national interests.
• Hydropower is the backbone: Chukha, Kurichhu, Tala and Mangdechhu were built with Indian support, and India buys the surplus power.
• Doklam (2017) — a 73-day standoff when Indian troops stopped Chinese road construction on territory Bhutan claims, near the India–Bhutan–China trijunction.

Bangladesh

• India’s role in the 1971 Liberation War is the founding memory of the relationship.
• Land Boundary Agreement: signed in 1974 (Indira Gandhi–Sheikh Mujibur Rahman), implemented through the 2011 Protocol and the 100th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2015. On 31 July 2015, 111 Indian enclaves went to Bangladesh and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves came to India.
• Maritime boundary settled by an arbitral award under UNCLOS in July 2014.
• Ganga Waters Treaty (1996) — a 30-year agreement on sharing lean-season flows at Farakka; its term ends in 2026. The Teesta water-sharing agreement remains unsigned.
• In August 2024, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left Bangladesh; an interim government led by Muhammad Yunus took office.

Sri Lanka

• 1974 and 1976 maritime agreements — the 1974 agreement recognised Sri Lankan sovereignty over Katchatheevu island; the issue of Tamil Nadu fishermen crossing the boundary persists.
• Indo-Sri Lanka Accord (29 July 1987) — Rajiv Gandhi and J.R. Jayewardene; led to Sri Lanka’s 13th Amendment (provincial councils) and the Indian Peace Keeping Force (1987–1990).
• China factor: the Hambantota port was leased to a Chinese company for 99 years in 2017 after Sri Lanka struggled to service its debt.
• During the 2022 economic crisis, India extended credit lines, currency support and essential supplies before the IMF programme was in place.

Maldives

• Operation Cactus (November 1988) — Indian troops reversed a coup attempt against President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom within hours.
• Operation Neer (December 2014) — drinking water flown to Male after a desalination plant fire.
• After President Mohamed Muizzu took office in November 2023, India agreed to replace its military personnel operating aviation platforms with civilian technical staff (completed by May 2024).

Myanmar

• The only ASEAN country with a land border with India — the land bridge to South-East Asia under the Act East Policy.
• Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project: Kolkata → Sittwe port (sea) → Paletwa (Kaladan river) → Mizoram (road). Sittwe port became operational in May 2023.
• India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway: Moreh (Manipur) to Mae Sot (Thailand).
• After the February 2021 military coup, refugee flows into Mizoram and Manipur rose. In February 2024, the Union Home Ministry announced it would end the Free Movement Regime along the border and fence it.

Memory Anchors

States on the Bangladesh border: “We All Meet The Majority” → West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram.

Indus rivers: “East is RBS” → the Eastern rivers are Ravi, Beas, Sutlej (India). The rest (Indus, Jhelum, Chenab) flow to Pakistan.

Treaty years ladder: 1950 Nepal → 1960 Indus → 1972 Simla → 1987 Sri Lanka → 1996 Ganga and Mahakali → 2007 Bhutan (revised) → 2015 Bangladesh (LBA in force).

One-line Mains hook: “Geography makes neighbours; policy makes them partners.” Use it to open any Neighbourhood First answer.

For Prelims

For Mains

• Dimensions: security (terrorism, insurgent sanctuaries, China’s presence); economic (trade, power trade, connectivity); water (Indus, Ganga, Teesta, Brahmaputra); people (migration, refugees, fishermen); political (perceptions of “big brother” interference).
• Keywords: asymmetric responsibility, non-reciprocity, connectivity-led integration, debt-trap concerns, cross-border energy trade, first responder, strategic autonomy of small states.
• Value-addition: the Gujral Doctrine (1996–97) — India gives more than it takes from smaller neighbours without asking for reciprocity; the SAGAR vision (2015); the LBA as a model of resolving a boundary dispute through constitutional amendment; Bhutan’s hydropower as a model of mutually beneficial cooperation.

Common Traps

In the News

• August 2024 — change of government in Bangladesh; Sheikh Hasina leaves the country.
• April 2025 — India holds the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance after the Pahalgam attack.
• May 2025 — Operation Sindoor against terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
• Follow the monthly current affairs for later developments.

Practice

Prelims

Mains

Quick Revision

Key Takeaways

Related Topics

• India–China Relations
• India and its Neighbourhood — quick revision
• Regional and Global Groupings (SAARC, BIMSTEC)
• Border Management
• Drainage System of India