Hegemonic Paradox: Structural Security Dilemmas, Strategic Hedging, and the Erosion of Indian Influence in South Asia

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the weaknesses of India's neighbourhood policy in South Asia and strategic failures in its structure. Meanwhile, India's foreign policy contrasts with New Delhi's confident bilateralist aspirations, protectionist trade policies, and ideological centralisation, as it sees itself as a leader in the region, let alone the world. This study draws on empirical studies in Nepal, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Maldives to examine the institutional mechanisms by which India alienates peripheral states through intrusive political engineering, non-tariff trade barriers, and coercive security structures. This study concludes that Indian foreign policy has not improved subcontinent cohesion; instead, it has generated deep mistrust, exacerbated the traditional security dilemma, and accelerated soft-power erosion in the region. As a result, near capitals hedge by inviting extra-regional major-power intervention through the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and by broadening economic institutions. This paper argues that New Delhi's security-centric posture is structurally at odds with its geopolitical objectives. To stop the continuous decline, India needs to adjust its foreign policy by de-securitising trade, offering non-reciprocal public goods, institutionalising multi-track civil society engagement and establishing collaborative co-governance frameworks for shared resources in the region.