India, March 8 -- India's rise is reshaping Asia. But closer to home, in South Asia, the question is not whether India is becoming more powerful-it already is. The harder question is whether that power is being translated into durable regional partnerships.

For decades, India's neighbourhood policy has swung between ambition and hesitation, outreach and retrenchment. Connectivity corridors have multiplied. Infrastructure financing has expanded. Crisis response has become faster. Yet mistrust persists. Political volatility continues to disrupt engagement. External powers are more deeply embedded than ever. The central dilemma is this: India has become indispensable to its region, but it has not yet become indispensable with its region. Th...