Distant neighbours

Modi govt's foreign policy falters

When it took charge, the National Democratic Alliance government seemed to have picked up its foreign policy mantra from what former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee once said: “You can change friends but not neighbours.” As such, the Modi government seemed to follow a “neighbourhood first” policy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi took an active and keen interest in making this happen. The government made an early and much overdue reorientation of India’s foreign policy towards its neighbours, seeking to inject substance into the oft-repeated rhetoric of attaching the highest priority to neighbouring countries. There was a flurry of high-level visits,