♤ When PM Narendra Modi took oath as the 14th Indian Prime Minister in May 2014, he made a significant diplomatic outreach to India’s neighbours by inviting their heads of government.

♤ The PM soon made his first foreign visit to Bhutan. Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj too, made her first official foreign visit in the neighbourhood, to Bangladesh. The diplomatic priority that government attached to the neighbourhood is evident from the PM’s visit to all of India’s neighbours, except Maldives, and the numerous leaders hosted in New Delhi and meetings at other multilateral fora.

♤ These developments have gave rise to the term ‘nieghborhood first’ as India’s policy in its