Political Turmoil in Nepal and Bangladesh: A New Test for India's 'Neighbourhood First' Strategy
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Nepal, Bangladesh Upheaval: India's 'Neighbourhood First' Policy Faces New Reality
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News18•07-03-2026, 21:50
Nepal, Bangladesh Upheaval: India's 'Neighbourhood First' Policy Faces New Reality
•Nepal and Bangladesh experienced seismic regime changes within 30 days in early March 2026, challenging India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy.
•In Nepal, 35-year-old rapper-engineer Balendra (Balen) Shah's Rastriya Swatantra Party won a landslide, ending decades of traditional party dominance.
•Bangladesh saw Tarique Rahman and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) take power, ending Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule and the Awami League's "political intimacy" with New Delhi.
•New Delhi's 'Neighbourhood First 2.0' strategy now focuses on "hard" connectivity infrastructure, non-reciprocal diplomacy, and leveraging neighbors' wariness of China's "debt-trap."
•India must adapt from being a "security provider" to a "prosperity partner" for these assertive, youthful democracies, moving beyond reliance on individual leaders.
