How ‘Big’ Is Big Brother?

Small nations are generally afraid of big ones, but there are occasions when the big begin to take note of the small and even develop apprehensions about them. In the last two decades. South Asia has often experienced this when India, though perceived as the "Big Brother", has developed a scare about some of its smaller neighbours. To enumerate a few instances, Sri Lanka was seen to be threatening when it was believed to be offering port facilities to the United States which New Delhi thought was "unacceptable to Indian interests". Bangladesh has been seen as a threat because of the "silent invasion" of large parts of Eastern India by its overflowing population, while its successive military governments were believed to be patronising a whole set of guerilla groups in Northeast India. In recent times, even Nepal has been seen as a threat as Indian policy-makers and those who inform them claim to have clear evidence of Nepal´s use as a nerve-centre for Pakistani offensive intelligence activity against north India. Pakistan, of course, is in a league of its own as far as Indian perceptions go.

Shabby Intervention
It has been more than a quarter century since 1971 and the aftermath of Bangladeshi independence, when the US recognised India´s supremacy in the region. (Time magazine was the first to call India a "regional superpower".) The Indian nation-state has lost much of its elan as a "regional superpower" since. Some would argue that India was never a regional superpower—but even those who feel so would agree today that India´s exercise of its overwhelming might has been carried out rather shabbily. So, when Bangladesh fails to fall in line, the Ganga is choked at Farakka and more so in its upper reaches. When Nepal does not come to terms, an economic blockade is enforced to stifle that landlocked economy. And when Sri Lanka refuses to play the surrogate, Tamil rebels are armed—at great cost to India itself, as subsequent developments showed.