What is Neighbourhood First, SAGAR outlook? Foreign policy frameworks at centre of Modi 3.0 inauguration
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh with her Indian counterpart during New Delhi G20 summit
The heads of state and government from Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius and the Seychelles featured as distinguished guests during the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi on Sunday (June 9), reflecting New Delhi's continued focus on the neighbourhood and Indian Ocean Region as part of its foreign policy initiatives.
During Modi's decade in power since 2014, with ministers Sushma Swaraj (2014-2019) and Dr S Jaishankar (2019-2024) as his foreign policy lieutenants, New Delhi has focused to deliver upon cooperation initiatives with immediate neighbourhood — the countries with which India shares contiguous territorial or maritime boundaries — and extensive engagements with extended neighbourhood: the countries in Indian Ocean Region, Southeast Asia or West Asia.
"The whole 'Neighbourhood First' thinking developed from the 2014 swearing-in ceremony and his (Modi's) personal experiences," the outgoing External Affairs Minister Dr S. Jaishankar wrote in his book 'Why Bharat Matters'.
Also watch |New Delhi's 'neighbourhood first' policy
India has been a security provider and first responder during crises in the neighbourhood as well as the western and southern Indian Ocean Region (IOR) for decades.
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New Delhi's geopolitical framework for the IOR has been formalised as 'SAGAR', which literally means sea, or Security and Growth for All in the Region'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi first used this phrase in 2015 at Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. Since then, the term has been adapted to include more elements such as policy framework with the Indo-Pacific region.
Neighbourhood First Policy and SAGAR framework: What do they mean?
The Neighbourhood First policy is aimed at enhancing physical, digital and people to people connectivity across the region. The core of Neighbourhood First policy, is the immediate neighbourhood, the objects of attention of Modi's first oath-taking ceremony in 2014.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (4th R) poses with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) heads of states during his oath of office ceremony at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi on May 26, 2014 | AFP
Notably, in the Indian Ocean Region, some countries overlap with New Delhi's SAGAR framework and the Neighbourhood First outlook.
"Some countries like Sri Lanka and the Maldives overlap with the Neighbourhood First policy," Jaishankar explains while referring to 'a transformational decade' (2014-2024) during Modi's years in power.
"But others today note the stronger focus and larger resources that India is prepared to devote," Jaishankar adds, while acknowledging that India's "development partnership with Mauritius has emerged an exemplar in this context".
"The underlying maritime cooperation has also become the basis for an emerging security conclave that encourages more cooperative thinking," the outgoing External Affairs Minister writes while referring to the Colombo Security Conclave which excludes China but includes the national security advisers of India, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Mauritius where they discuss measures for maritime safety and security and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief among others.
Bangladesh and Seychelles attend Colombo Security Conclave as observers.
The Neighbourhood First and SAGAR frameworks also serve as the basis for New Delhi's ongoing engagements with the countries in the region that potentially offset Chinese strategic designs in the region in long term.
Neighbourhood foreign policy frameworks and Indian interests
India occupies a unique position in the subcontinent due to its size, location, andincreasingly, its economic weight.
"It is obviously in India's interest that its immediate periphery be stable, secure and sensitive. Ensuring this in a competitive world will require us to underwrite the larger region and invest in the connectivity, cooperation and contacts that make for a more cohesive geography," Jaishankar further notes in 'a transformational decade' of 'Why Bharat Matters'.
"The heart of Neighbourhood First policy is for India to convince its immediate neighbours of the benefits of closer ties and then proceed to make that happen on the ground. This is essentially what we have seen unfold since 2014," Jaishankar adds, while referring to India's expeditious response to Sri Lanka's economic crisis in 2022, and increasing bilateral cohesion with countries in West Asia and Southeast Asia.