How does India envision South Asia? What do Indian policymakers envisage the country鈥檚 regional role to be? The issues and actors that dominate India鈥檚 regional foreign policy give a glimpse of the country鈥檚 priorities in the region. The much-touted 鈥渟hift鈥� in Indian diplomacy under Narendra Modi offers us a window into the priorities of the new government and the extent to which continuity from the past shapes its regional policy today.
This report explores how India works both above and below the regional level in an effort to secure its regional diplomatic and economic priorities. It examines the following five issue areas that have influenced India鈥檚 relations with its neighbours: the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, India as a humanitarian actor, supraregionalism and subregionalism, border politics, and democratisation. The report closes with reflections on what implications these engagements might have for Indian foreign policy in the future, arguing that a more inclusive and engaged leadership by India could help to resolve some of South Asia鈥檚 most vexing and intractable challenges.
