Two senior Indian officials travelled to Nepal and Sri Lanka last week as part of India’s ongoing efforts to repair relations in the neighbourhood. In Nepal, Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla said India and Nepal “need” each other, making a pitch to halt the downward slide in relations that set in following particularly the Kalapani border dispute. In Sri Lanka, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval discussed key bilateral issues including Indian investments and regional security with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. How successful have India’s efforts been to repair the recently deteriorating relations in the neighbourhood, and how is India responding to China’s growing political, and especially economic, influence in South Asia?

Guests: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor and Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu; Meera Srinivasan, Sri Lanka Correspondent, The Hindu.

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