The concept of "India & its Neighborhood - Relations" is formally encapsulated in the Neighbourhood First Policy (NFP), a diplomatic strategy and foreign policy concept that prioritizes strengthening ties with India's immediate neighbors.
The policy's historical roots lie in the Gujral Doctrine, a set of five principles formulated by former Prime Minister I. K. Gujral in 1997 when he was External Affairs Minister in 1996-1997. The Gujral Doctrine was created to solve the problem of strained relations by emphasizing unilateral accommodation and non-interference, where India would extend cooperation to smaller neighbors like Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, and Sri Lanka without expecting reciprocity. This doctrine led to successes like the 1996 Ganga Water Treaty with Bangladesh.
The current Neighbourhood First Policy was conceived in 2008 but received significant intensification post-2014. It works by focusing on a consultative, non-reciprocal, and outcome-oriented approach toward countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Key mechanisms involve enhancing physical, digital, and people-to-people connectivity, along with development assistance and infrastructure projects. The policy is guided by the principles of Samman (respect), Samvad (dialogue), Shanti (peace), Samriddhi (prosperity), and Sanskriti (culture).
The NFP connects directly to regional institutions like the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and sub-regional groupings such as the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal (BBIN) initiative for energy and connectivity. While the core principle of non-reciprocity from the Gujral Doctrine remains in the NFP's approach, the policy has changed recently by shifting from a primarily goodwill-based approach to a more proactive, security-conscious, and economically integrated strategy, aiming to create interdependencies and counter external influences in the region.