The truth behind the rhetoric

As the year draws to a close, a new dispensation is set to take over in the United States. The world is changing. What are the prospects for India in South Asia?

- ADITI PHADNIS

Many argue that over the year India has done nothing in the neighbourhood but make enemies of friends. They point to Bhutan, where the demand that Thimphu review its options of putting all its eggs in the India basket is rising. In Nepal, a new regime, supposedly bitterly opposed to New Delhi, is in place. Observers there note that "in the absence" of an invitation from India, new(est) Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli will visit China later in December before he comes to India, breaking some kind of a tradition. By hosting the Enemy No. 1 in Bangladesh, ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in India, New Delhi has irredeemably shot itself in the foot. In Pakistan, things have come to such a pass that even seasoned diplomats are asking if India and Pakistan can ever be friends. Sri Lanka's new President, Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD), is avowedly anti-Indian and ideologically pro-Chinese and it is predicted no good will come of it. With the "India Out" campaign, New Delhi has lost every vestige of friendly acceptability in the Maldives. In South Asia, India's diplomacy is flawed and China holds the whip hand. On the face of it, India is up a gum tree.