Relevance : GS Paper II (International Relations)
[800 words reduced to 150]
- The outcome of the NRC exercise has implications for India’s ties with Bangladesh.
- Threat for India:
- Many Indians are working in Bangladesh.
- Bangladesh is a high source of remittances.
- Bangladesh is not in a position to accept people deported due to NRC exercise because it is already under burden of hosting Rohingya refugees.
- ‘Neighbourhood first’ policy not being implemented:
- Nepal has tilted towards China due to 2015 Nepal blockade
- India-Bhutan relationship has also been strained ever since India’s withdrawal of subsidies in 2013.
- Sri Lanka and the Maldives have also made a shift towards China.
- Bangladesh: India’s most trusted neighbour:
- It has cooperated in India’s crackdown on insurgents.
- It is India’s biggest trading partner in South Asia.
- Bangladesh has facilitated connectivity with the Northeast
- The NRC issue threatens to disturb the equilibrium in India-Bangladesh ties.
