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    ISAS Briefs

    Quick analytical responses to occurrences in South Asia

    346: ‘Neighbourhood First’: Modi’s Foreign Policy Mantra

    Rajeev Ranjan, Research Associate, ISAS

    3 October 2014

    India’s former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee used to say, “Friends can change but not neighbours who have to live together”. A country’s neighbourhood must enjoy unquestioned primacy in its foreign-policy making. This is disti nctly evident in India’s new Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s foreign policy mantra – “neighbourh ood first”.