India’s Biggest Problem Is Its Own Backyard in Nepal and Bangladesh

New Delhi-The uprisings led by students in Bangladesh and the Nepal governments there, indicating the transformation of generations in South Asia’s policy. From Colombo to Dhaka to Kathmandu, the Z generation appears as a sabotage force, difficult corruption, family elites, and stagnant economies.

The scope and speed of these social movements surprised the established political classes in their countries – but also political leaders in India, the largest and most influential country in the region. India now finds itself struggling with an unexpected question: What does it mean to ascend as a global force when its live neighborhood is in the free political autumn?

Understanding the current impasse of India requires the estimation of the traditional foundations of its diplomatic dominance in South Asia. Due to its vast population and the economy, its young neighbors usually depended on trade, transit, energy and labor markets, while its military power made it a security guarantor. By working as the main transport channel in the region, the dominant buyer of goods, and the largest supplier of aid and defense, India has the political lifting of nearby countries.

Some felt that this leverage was offended. India has sparked controversy, for example, when it applied the economic blockade of Nepal in 2015, and intervened militarily in Sri Lanka through the power of preserving Indian peace (IPKF), and even the forces deployed in the Maldives. But the regional field of India was often considered a foreground-until the last wave of the uprisings led by young people began to redefine the policy of South Asia, leaving Delhi struggling to keep pace with this.

Amrta Basso, a professor of political science, says that the recent uprisings in the region indicate the rupture of generations in the region. Unlike the previous movements that were linked to national or editorial legacies, today’s students in Bangladesh and Nepal reject the loyalty of long -term loyalties. “These protests are both pragmatic, and they demand jobs based on merit instead of care, and to stop democratic ideals against authoritarian increasing,” Passo said.

This break between generations is visible in how these movements mix the power of traditional streets with a digital strategy. “This smart generation of technology is linked worldwide through the Internet and learning from each other,” the researcher Nasrat Chaudhry said in an interview with the Internet. Foreign policy “Bangladeshites took signs of Sri Lankan protests, while the Nepalese encouraged young people through events in Bangladesh. It is paradoxes, when governments closed the Internet to curb protests, often had an opposite effect, and nourishes more anger.”

These interconnected young movements reveal the basic weaknesses of political stability in South Asia, which extend beyond individual countries. They also undermined the role of India as a provider of such stability – and the beneficiary. Ultimately, India’s ability to display energy worldwide depends on maintaining a large degree of calm in the region.

But the traditional diplomatic approach to India in the region based on historical and cultural links seems to contradict its borders, as its neighbors view the inability to fulfill the local expectations of economic growth and development. This India has forced an interactive position with consequences outside the region. “To be limited to a regional firefighting role that contradicts the global ambition of regional authority like India,” says Waseem Malla, a research colleague at the New Delhi Peace Studies Center.

“If India remains always stuck in regional crises, its ability to overcome the outside and make strategic capital in the Indian Pacific Ocean is affected,” said Mala. “This creates doubts about the benefit of New Delhi in the vision of India and the Pacific in Washington as a budget for China.”

There is no more clear place in Bangladesh. Months of the demonstrations led by university students swollen to an uprising at the country level against corruption and authoritarianism. The fall of Hasina’s government has been sent throughout South Asia, not only because it ended one of the longest strains of the region, but also because it was almost completely driven by young people who grew up under the volatile democracy area. Their victory has echoed all over the campus in Nepal, where the students saw, in Bangladesh, to verify the validity of their dissatisfaction.

Baso, a professor of political science, noted that the uprisings in Bangladesh and Nepal represent a sharp break with previous patterns. “There are three big differences,” she said. First, social media played a vital role-the referee tried to restrict access, but this is the opposite of.

For India, these disorders have created immediate challenges. Since August 2024, Bangladesh’s disorders have been overwhelmed by security and economy in India: Indian forces arrested 2,601 Bangladeshi citizens who illegally cross from January 2024 to January 2025, by 80 percent after the start of the disturbances. Exports to Bangladesh fell from $ 11.46 billion in the fiscal year 24 to $ 11.06 billion in 25, while the railway shipping movement decreased by 45 percent.

Likewise, Nepal’s protests forced to tighten monitoring along the 1751 km border (1090 miles), restricting crossings, and absorbing trauma in tourism and trade. These numbers show the speedy translation of political turmoil into costs of India, forcing New Delhi to transfer resources from wider goals to crisis management.

Behind Nepal and Bangladesh, India also faces pressure on its western and northeastern forehead. The return of the Taliban in Afghanistan has re -fears of the strictness that leaks to Kashmir, while the economic and political turmoil in Pakistan holds the security of the border.

In the east, the disturbances of Manipor and the mass mixing in Asam intersect with the refugee flows from Bangladesh and Myanmar, which shows how external crises and local vocalization are fed with each other. These overlapping pressures double the internal disturbances of India, even as they show themselves as a stable force and a major voice of the global south. The contradiction is blatant: While New Delhi aspires to global leadership, its immediate surroundings are still unstable, forcing to combat continuous fires that turn attention from regional aspirations in the long run.

For politicians, fear is infection. With increasingly unemployed youth and universities, Delhi realizes that the same frustrations that overthrew governments in Nepal and Bangladesh are at home. The state responded with more strict monitoring of universities, controlling student groups, and restrictions on online activity.

Uday Chandra, an independent political analyst, added that India’s path since independence is often similar to the path of its neighbors. “The same legitimacy has occurred that enabled the youth uprising in the weakest countries in India with the Anna Hazari movement to combat corruption in 2011, but was directed to an electoral change instead of the regime’s collapse.”

This internal approach was undermined the credibility of India. India faced an embarrassing dilemma with Bangladesh, after Hasina supported a reliable partner while overcoming democratic freedoms under its rule. When students overthrew her government, she left New Delhi.

“India’s response to Gen Z activists throughout the region,” Passo said. “In Bangladesh, India presented a shelter to Hasina while ignoring the goals of reforming the activists. In Nepal, India claimed neutrality but it seemed far from asking the youth accountable.”

This separation generations are blatant, as those who lived through the uprisings.

“Hasina’s rule was widely seen by India. When the Prime Minister [Narendra] “There have been protests and erupted in prison or the disappearance of people. Many young people were insulting and began to question India’s position towards Bangladesh,” said Ahmed Sameran, a 23 -year -old student in business administration.

Samran was distinguished between cultural appreciation and political and political confidence: “We admire the films of Indian culture, music, diversity and valuable solidarity from Indian activists during our protests. But we cannot trust India as a government or regional leader.

The deficit of credibility reflects these deeper structural restrictions. “The great approach in India has often become a responsibility. Its policies tend to be closely consistent with the ruling elites and create long -term risks,” said Mala, a research colleague. The formed economic restrictions double: “There is a credible gap due to India’s inability to fulfill development promises.” “This opens a space for China, which strengthened its foothold and got goodwill in the region.”

The challenge facing Indian policy makers is the movement between outdated interventions and strategic paralysis. Chandra noted that “falsifying the elections in favor of the favorite candidates would reduce the Indian leverage now, but the inaction is equally acceptable.” “The result is extremely mixed caution with pragmatism about the costs and benefits of any intervention.”

He added: “The traditional neighborhood strategy in India was transactions, as credit or assistance is provided for loyalty.” “This approach has led to reverse results, as he feed the accusations of the older brother and the leadership of the neighbors towards China. But the embrace of China also comes with chains, which brought India to the equation.”

Chandra has argued that the challenge is adapting to a new regional reality. The smaller countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are no longer benefiting from the negative impact; They are now balanced between relations with both forces while guarding sovereignty.

He said that this competition creates a new crane for smaller countries: “The presence of both India and China allows them to rethink the national identity in the dialogue with the high aspirations of the middle class. Their interactions are formed with regional giants through the overlapping of contradictory interests of strength and weakness.”

However, while the maneuvering countries between the forces, the movements led by South Asian youth face familiar borders. Chaudhry argued that the Bangladesh uprising in 2024 raised hope, but failed to provide reforms, echoing the Arab Spring.

This leaves India at a crossroads: Global leadership will remain hollow unless it wins the confidence of a generation designed to claim its future.