INDIA'S RELATIONS WITH SOUTH ASIAN NATIONS

At 73, one is thought to be old and wise, have difficulty in changing, but a nation like India at 73 can be thought of as a young enough, vibrant nation, historically still in a neo infancy stage.

- DR. VEENA RAVIKUMAR*

At one time, India had thought it had evolved with concepts like the mixed economy, non-alignment, Gandhian non-violence as its conceptualized pillars. But those were ideals for a new nation caught in the vortex of cold war politics. Economy and national security being the accepted two pillars of any foreign policy, India too used these for her touchstones.

It now seems to have come a full circle from Nehruvian socialist policy of self-reliance to Prime Minister Modi’s ‘atmanirbhar’. The impact of COVID 19 has made most nations inward-looking, debunking earlier concepts of globalisation and connectivity.

At this time, China has turned out to be one of the major challenges while discussing South Asia. After the recent events in Galwan, Ladakh, and India’s boycott of Chinese goods, relations have become tense and need to be managed by both as responsible powers. Unfortunately, China’s aggressiveness has impacted the South China Seas, Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as directly or indirectly, on India too.