The concept of "India & its Neighbourhood" is primarily articulated through the Neighbourhood First Policy (NFP), a foreign-policy doctrine and strategic initiative that prioritizes relations with India's immediate periphery. The NFP aims to foster regional stability, economic growth, and cooperative security by cultivating a cooperative periphery. Its intellectual lineage traces back to the Gujral Doctrine of 1996–97, which established the principle of non-reciprocity for India's engagement with smaller neighbours. The operative label "Neighbourhood First" was formally coined and given emphatic currency by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2014, with the goal of counterbalancing the growing influence of external powers, particularly China, in South Asia.
The policy works through an aggregation of bilateral instruments, lines of credit extended via the Export-Import Bank of India, and the technical-cooperation framework of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, established in 1964. It employs a consultative, non-reciprocal, and outcome-oriented approach, focusing on aid, connectivity (physical and digital), and acting as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean Region. The policy connects to related concepts like the SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) vision and institutions like SAARC and BIMSTEC. Its constitutional basis lies in the executive's foreign-affairs powers under the Union List of the Seventh Schedule. Recently, the policy has required recalibration due to geopolitical competition and internal political changes in neighbouring nations. The policy's resilience has been tested by events such as the change in government in Bangladesh in July 2024 and the Maldives under President Muizzu (elected October 2023), leading to a shift towards more differentiated engagement and leveraging trade as a key instrument.