Does Any Neighbour Have 'India First Policy'? Asks Opposition EAM S Jaishankar Says...

(MENAFN- Live Mint) During the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, congress MP Manis Tewari stressed the India First policy and asked if any neighbours have an“India First policy”.

In his question, Manish Tewari asked,“India was the 8th country which the new President of the Maldives visited after being elected on an oust India campaign, and that too based upon their economic compulsions. Number two, Nepal. China was the first country the newly elected Nepalese Prime Minister visited and signed on to the Belt and Road Initiative.”

He added,“In Sri Lanka, 12.9 per cent of Sri Lanka's external debt is held by China. In Bhutan, the Sino-Bhutan border negotiations are in a very advanced stage, Doklam is in prey, and Bangladesh continues to be in turmoil. My question, therefore, is while India may have a neighbourhood-first policy, is there any neighbour of India with an India First policy?”

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Replying to this, EAM S Jaishankar said,“Before Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to Nepal, for 17 years, there was no visit from India to Nepal. So does that mean nobody in India cared for Nepal? For Sri Lanka, for 30 years there were no bilateral visits before Prime Minister Modi went there. So visits are important, I accept it. Visits are also subject of timing, convenience, agenda”.

He said that the neighbourhood gives us priority and highlighted several projects showcasing the same.

Maldives

Highlighting the relations with Maldives, Jaishankar said that with this government in Maldives,“we have inaugurated the Adu Link road and reclamation project and I myself went for it”. 28 islands, there were provided water and sewage facilities, and by the way, the President of Maldives was present at the oath-taking ceremony of the new government, the EAM said.

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