India's neighborhood which the member-countries of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka comprise, is a fairly complex geographical entity. These countries represent a world of historical links, shared legacies, commonalities as well as diversities which are elaborately reflected in their ethnic, linguistic, religious and political fabric. China and Myanmar are no less complex. India can be considered as the most stable country in the region moving ahead with a fast pace. In terms of its population, territory, GDP, its image as an emerging world economy and a responsible de-facto nuclear State, and as a country which is destined to play a larger role on international arena, and also for several other reasons, India stands apart. This has created misperceptions about India and its intentions. India's pride in a way has become neighbor's envy. The erroneous perceptions about India floating in the region are; "aBig Brother bullying the smaller neighbor", "India treats its neighbors as a neglected backyard," etc. There exists no justified explanation for this'trust deficit'. On top of it there are vested interests and lobbies for whom being anti-Indian issynonymous with being patriot and nationalist. However,as a part of "Neighborhood First" policy, India has alwaysextended assistance to neighbor countries through various Infrastructure Development Projects, Credit or Aid. There has been a long tradition of free movement of people across the borders between India and Nepal. PM Modi’s visit to Kathmandu in 2014 has strengthened the ties between the two countries. Modi wound up his visit with a slew of sops focusing on the 4 Cs- Cooperation, Connectivity, Culture and Constitution to enhance bilateral ties. At the time of the devastating earthquake in Nepal on 25th April, 2015, India swiftly dispatched its National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and special aircrafts with rescue and relief materials to Nepal. Bilateral trade between India and Nepal has grown more than seven times. There are 150 operating Indian ventures in Nepal involved in manufacturing, services including banking, insurance, dry port, education and telecom, power sector and tourism industry. Recently, India has been assisting Nepal in the development of border infrastructure through development of roads in the Terai areas; it has also developed road links between the two countries. India has also helped Nepal in the field of education and has proved to be the best neighbor. In cultural arena also, India has taken various steps to promote the cosmopolitan culture shared by both the countries.Being a Key -development partner of Nepal, India has extended assistance to Nepal in the modernization of Nepal’s Army by supplying equipment and providing training. Morethan eight million Nepalese live and work in India. Recently, India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nepal for the construction of Motorable Bridge over the Mahakali River connecting Dharchula (India) with Darchula (Nepal) under Indian grants. India offers aid programs for Afghanistan which include infrastructure development, institutional capacity building, small development projects as well as food security assistance in the form of ongoing deliveries of wheat to Afghanistan. To strengthen relations between Afghans and Indians, the Afghan embassy in Delhi has introduced sister-city relations between major Indian cities of the two countries. The Taliban’s government, however, has adversely affected the ties between the two countries. Despite thisshowing a humanitarian gesture, India has supplied the fourth batch of assistance consisting of three tons of essential life-saving medicines to Afghanistan.The medical supplies were handed over to the Indira Gandhi Hospital in Kabul. India has extended economic assistance to Bhutan since the early 1960s. India has constructed four major hydro-electric projects (HEPs) in Bhutan of a total 2136 MW capacity, including 336 MWChukha HEP, 60 MWKuricchu HEP, 1020 MW Tala HEP and 720 MW Mangdechhu HEP. Recently, Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi has inaugurated the Ground Earth Station of the South Asia Satellite in Thimphu, constructed with the support of ISRO. India has evolved business relations with Bhutan and has been Bhutan’s development partner. Since the First Five Year Plan (FYP) in 1961, India has extended a great financial help to Bhutan. India’s over all financial assistance to Bhutan has reached in thousand- crores excluding grants for hydropower projects. India's assistance portfolio in Myanmar isover the US $ 1.75 billion. India is a major buyer of Burma’s oil and gas. India has granted Under Rakhine State Development Program; India is committed to giving the US $ 25 million of assistance to Myanmar over a period of 5 years. India has also handed over to Myanmar's Rakhine State 20,000 bags of relief material. Relations between the two nations are healthy as was apparent in the outcome of Cyclone Nargis, when India provided relief and rescue aid proposals that were accepted by Myanmar’s ruling Junta. India and Maldives signed a trade agreement in 1981, which provides for export of vital commodities. Under the bilateral agreement, India offers food items like rice, wheat flour, sugar, pulses, onion, potatoes, eggs and construction materials such as sand and stone aggregates to Maldives on favorable terms. India shall permanently base two helicopters in the Maldives to improve its surveillance capabilities. India will support set up radars on all 26 atolls for seamless coverage ofapproaching vessels and aircrafts. The Southern Naval command will facilitate the inclusion of Maldives into the Indian Security grid. India has accorded Three Lines of Credits (LoC) to Bangladesh in the last 8 years amounting to US $ 8 billion for the development of infrastructure in various sectors such as roads, railways, shipping and ports. Both the nations solved their border disputes on June6, 2015. Acting on PMO’s policy of ‘Act East’,the Government of India has sanctioned Rs 580/ crore to connect Kolkata with Tripura via Bangladesh through railway.Human Resource Development has been an important component of India's Development Cooperation Efforts in the neighborhood. India trains the human resources of Bangladesh and provides them scholarships also. Bangladeshi Police officers are being trained in various modern policing and new investigative techniques of the information age at various premier training institutes in India. Likewise, the Government of India has provided training to 1,500 Bangladeshi judicial officials at the National Judicial Academic in Bhopal and at various other State Judicial Academies in India since 2017. Besides, Bangladesh being an important ITEC partner country, more than 800 Bangladeshi participants attend ITEC training course every year. In brief, India is a huge country with manifold cultures. India has cordial historical, religious, economic, ethnic and linguistic with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Burma. Sometimes, relations with Pakistan, China and Afghanistan (after the Taliban have overtaken) bother the Indian populace and political leaders who always look forward for friendly relationship with neighbor countries. 
By Dr Suresh Kumar Agrawal (The writer is Professor & Head, Department of English, Maharaja Ganga Singh University, Bikaner.)
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