India needs to have a coherent and long-term vision for the neighbourhood to work towards South Asian integration.
What are the prevailing concerns?
India is one of the world’s least regionally-integrated major powers with the absence of a coherent and well-planned regional policy.
India was accused of interfering with the Constitution-making process in Nepal in 2015 and also trying to influence recent electoral outcomes in Sri Lanka.
On the Rohingya refugees, India’s approach goes against its traditional practice and it also suffer from lack of a refugee policy.
Also, the relationship with Pakistan continues to be testy and directionless.
India also has a long record of not following up on its promises to its neighbours.
India, thus, needs to have a coherent and consistent strategy to deal in its neighbourhood.
What should be done?
South Asia is the least integrated region in the world because of the weak economic linkages among the countries of the region.
Regional Trade - India needs to frame better regional trading arrangements.
The long ‘sensitive lists’ maintained by South Asian countries are a major impediment in the implementation of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA).
Each member country has a ‘sensitive list’ on goods that are exempt from tariff concessions (not eligible for lower import tariffs).
These sensitive lists remain long and hence India should persuade its neighbours to reduce the number of items on such lists.
Soft power - In the case of regional infrastructure projects, China is at a clear advantage than India.
Hence India must invest where China falls short, especially at the level of institution-building and in soft power promotion.
India could expand the scope and work of the South Asian University (SAU), including by providing a proper campus and ensuring that its students get research visas to India without much hassle.
If properly utilised, the SAU can become a point for regional integration.
Focussing on Border states - Several of India’s border States have the capacity to engage in trading arrangements with neighbouring countries.
This should be made easier by the government by way of constructing border infrastructure and easing restrictions on such border trade.
Multilateral engagements - India prefers bilateral engagements in the region rather than deal with neighbours on multilateral forums.
However, there should be more attempts at forging multilateral arrangements, including by resurrecting the SAARC.
India should also look at other possible areas of convergence, including counter terrorism, regional trade and infrastructure development in the multilateral fora.
This would help India to have a coherent and long-term vision for its neighbourhood.
