Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday in a call with the leaders of the South Asian nations except Pakistan reaffirmed, India’s ‘neighbourhood first’ policy and conveyed ‘New Year’ greetings to them on behalf of the people of India.
The Prime Minister spoke to leaders from Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Important bilateral commitments and matters of mutual interest were discussed. The PM also affirmed values such as peace and shared prosperity.
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For instance, in a call with the Bhutanese King Jigme Namgyel, the two sides discussed the upcoming visit of the royal to India.
In a call with the Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, the two leaders discussed PM Modi’s upcoming visit to Dhaka in March. The two nations, since the last month have experienced a downturn in the relations, due to repeated derogatory remarks made by the Union Home Minister Amit Shah with reference to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
The Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli invited PM Narendra Modi to visit Nepal at an early date. The two sides also agreed to jointly open the new checkpost at Biratnagar. 2019 has been mostly a successful year for the two nations, who have worked and successfully completed many joint projects such as oil pipelines.
These calls have signified the government’s policy to have a meaningful relationship with the South Asian nations except Pakistan. Pakistan’s isolation is a continuous project, the government is working towards.