Analyze the intricate interplay of rising great power competition and India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, critically examining its effectiveness and challenges in securing strategic interests and fostering regional connectivity, particularly in sensitive border areas like Arunachal Pradesh.

Great Power Competition (GPC)

India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ Policy

Strategic Interests (India’s)

Regional Connectivity

Effectiveness and Challenges

Sensitive Border Areas (specifically Arunachal Pradesh)

Interplay between GPC and ‘Neighbourhood First’

Countering external influence

Infrastructure development

Geopolitical dynamics in South Asia

China’s role and assertiveness

Great Power Competition (GPC): Refers to the strategic rivalry, primarily between the United States and China, but also involving other major actors like Russia, vying for influence across various domains – economic, political, military, and technological – globally and regionally.

‘Neighbourhood First’ Policy: India’s foreign policy approach prioritizing relations with its immediate neighbours. Its aims include enhancing mutual trust and cooperation, promoting connectivity, facilitating trade, and ensuring the security and stability of its periphery, recognizing that India’s prosperity and security are intertwined with that of its neighbours.

Strategic Interests: Encompasses a nation’s vital goals and objectives in foreign policy, including national security, economic prosperity, territorial integrity, regional stability, and maintaining influence.

Regional Connectivity: The development of physical (roads, rail, ports, pipelines), digital (internet, telecom), and people-to-people links between countries in a region to facilitate trade, transit, communication, and cultural exchange.

The contemporary global landscape is increasingly shaped by the resurgence of great power competition, a phenomenon where major global actors vie for dominance and influence, often impacting smaller states and regions. Concurrently, India has articulated and pursued its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, recognizing the critical importance of a stable and cooperative immediate periphery for its own security and prosperity. This answer will analyze the complex interplay between these two defining dynamics – rising great power competition and India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy. It will critically examine how the former complicates or facilitates the latter, assessing the policy’s effectiveness and the challenges it faces in securing India’s strategic interests and fostering regional connectivity, with a particular focus on sensitive border areas like Arunachal Pradesh.

India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy, launched with significant intent, seeks to build robust, mutually beneficial relationships with countries like Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Afghanistan, and Myanmar. The policy emphasizes dialogue, connectivity, development partnerships, and security cooperation, aiming to create a secure and prosperous South Asian region that is responsive to India’s core concerns and aligns with its strategic objectives. It is predicated on the idea that India’s neighbours are integral to its strategic depth and economic growth.

However, the rise of great power competition significantly complicates this approach. South Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific region have become theatres for the strategic maneuvering of global powers, most notably China. China’s expansive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), its increasing economic leverage through investments and debt diplomacy, and its growing military footprint in the Indian Ocean region and neighbouring countries directly challenge India’s traditional influence and the objectives of ‘Neighbourhood First’. Other powers also engage, sometimes offering alternatives, sometimes adding complexity.

The interplay manifests in several ways. Firstly, neighbours are often presented with choices or find themselves caught between competing great powers. China’s extensive infrastructure projects and financial packages can be more attractive or less conditional than India’s offerings, leading neighbours to align with Beijing on certain issues, potentially undermining India’s standing or strategic interests. Secondly, great powers actively seek to cultivate ties with India’s neighbours, sometimes explicitly to counterbalance Indian influence. This can strain bilateral relations between India and its neighbours if those neighbours perceive India as overly prescriptive or unable to match the offers of rivals. Thirdly, the increased presence and strategic assertiveness of external powers, particularly China, in the neighbourhood directly impacts India’s security calculations, necessitating a more robust and often resource-intensive response under the ‘Neighbourhood First’ umbrella.

Critically examining the effectiveness of ‘Neighbourhood First’ in this competitive environment reveals mixed results. While India has deepened ties with many neighbours through enhanced aid, connectivity projects, and diplomatic initiatives, the policy faces significant challenges. The economic might and willingness of competitors like China to invest heavily can often outpace India’s capacity. This makes securing strategic interests difficult when neighbours gain leverage by engaging with multiple powers. For instance, while India pushes for regional connectivity projects like the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) initiative, Chinese-funded projects elsewhere in the region offer alternative or competing routes. The political stability and internal dynamics within neighbouring countries also play a crucial role, and external influence can exacerbate internal divisions or complicate governance.

The challenges are particularly acute in sensitive border areas. Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as South Tibet, serves as a prime example. China’s increasing assertiveness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), its rapid infrastructure development on its side of the border, its attempts to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh, and its growing economic and political influence in India’s eastern neighbours directly undermine India’s sovereignty claims and strategic posture in this vital region. Securing India’s interests here requires not only military readiness but also bolstering the socio-economic fabric and connectivity on the Indian side.

India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy attempts to counter these challenges in border regions by focusing on accelerated infrastructure development (roads, bridges, communication networks) right up to the border, enhancing border area development programs, and ensuring the well-being and integration of populations in these areas. However, the scale and pace of China’s development and its integrated approach combining economic, diplomatic, and military tools pose a formidable challenge. The policy’s effectiveness in these areas is constrained by historical underdevelopment, geographical difficulties, and the sheer weight of a great power competitor operating with a clear strategic objective. While ‘Neighbourhood First’ initiatives provide a necessary framework for engagement and development, they cannot unilaterally offset the pressures arising from intense great power competition and the actions of revisionist powers. Securing strategic interests in areas like Arunachal Pradesh therefore requires a multi-pronged approach that goes beyond traditional neighbourhood policy, incorporating robust defence capabilities, international partnerships, and a resilient domestic strategy.

Furthermore, great power competition can create dilemmas for India’s neighbours regarding neutrality and alignment, potentially pulling them into rival security or economic blocs. This necessitates India adopting a nuanced and agile approach, emphasizing mutual benefit and respect for sovereignty, rather than perceived dominance, to make ‘Neighbourhood First’ a more attractive and sustainable option than aligning with distant powers whose long-term interests might not align with regional stability.

In conclusion, the intricate interplay between rising great power competition and India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy presents a complex and evolving geopolitical landscape. While ‘Neighbourhood First’ remains an indispensable framework for India to secure its strategic interests and foster regional connectivity, its implementation and effectiveness are significantly challenged by the strategic maneuvers and competing influence of great powers, particularly China. The competition for leverage and presence in India’s periphery forces India to constantly adapt its policy, increase resource allocation, and compete on multiple fronts – economic, developmental, diplomatic, and security. In sensitive border areas like Arunachal Pradesh, the direct challenge from a competing great power highlights the limitations of a purely neighbourhood-centric approach and underscores the need for comprehensive national strategies that integrate defence, development, and diplomacy to effectively counter external pressures and secure vital national interests in an era of heightened global rivalry. The success of ‘Neighbourhood First’ will increasingly depend on India’s ability to offer genuinely attractive and sustainable alternatives to its neighbours while navigating the complex dynamics imposed by great power competition.