India's Neighbourhood Policy: Continuity and Change

India’s Neighbourhood Policy warrants a critical re-examination on several fronts. Despite India’s significant rise in global stature over the past decade, its ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy has yet to deliver the expected outcomes. Persistent political instability in its immediate neighbourhood, coupled with unfriendly and unfavourable regimes, has hindered the success of this policy. Additionally, the assertive rise of China and its growing presence in South Asia, alongside the active involvement of external powers such as the United States, must also be considered when evaluating India’s neighbourhood strategy in recent years. This paper seeks to reassess India’s neighbourhood policy, identifying both continuities and changes in how the country navigates its relations with its neighbouring states. At a time when South Asia, as a region, has struggled to foster substantial regional cooperation and is no longer relegated to the periphery of global geopolitics, situating India’s neighbourhood policy within this broader context provides valuable insights. By examining the contemporary political landscape in and around South Asia, we contend that India’s neighbourhood policy reveals a fundamental mismatch between its principles and its practical execution. While the policy is based on ideals of mutual respect, cooperation, and peaceful coexistence, its implementation has often stagnated. In this context, we argue that the so-called changes’ in India’s neighbourhood policy frequently reflect continuities across different Indian administrations.