Neighbourhood First to Last to Lost In his weekly column for The Indian Express , senior Congress leader P Chidambaram reflects on how far the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) has come along. He draws attention to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's number of visits to Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan. But then he also talks about China which "infuriated" PM Modi and rendered him "helpless" as he has allowed China to "dictate the policies of India," adding that through ignoring our neighbourhood, we have paid a price.
India's declining influence in the South Asian region is a self-inflicted injury. Mr Modi's foreign policy is striving to acquire a sheen by projecting India as a 'peace broker' in world affairs. Witness the burst of activity and meetings with the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, the US, France and others, attendance at G20, UN Summit and QUAD.
While Mr Modi has our best wishes, we may also remind him that his policy on the neighbourhood is being described as Neighbourhood Last or Neighbourhood Lost. Chidambaram in The Indian Express ADVERTISEMENT REMOVE AD Are Corrupt Officials Alone to Blame? Tavleen Singh in her column for The Indian Express argues that many politicians and high officials get away with their "hanky-panky" because the people are selective about the yardstick used to judge officials, elected and unelected. She states that it is not totally the fault of political leaders and high officials th.
