Two months after assuming office, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy agenda has still not become clear. But from the clues so far, a focus on neighborhood diplomacy is taking shape.

Even before he took office, Modi was cautiously reaching out to Islamabad and measuring Indo-Pakistani relations after Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended Modi's inauguration ceremony, as a positive gesture to improve bilateral relations.

But what has gone unnoticed is that the leaders of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation countries were also invited and all attended, for the first time ever at an Indian inauguration.

Modi also chose Bhutan for his first foreign visit as prime minister, while the latter promised that it will not allow its territory to be used against India, a first sign of his focus on India's immediate neighborhood.

Modi is also planning an early visit to Nepal that will be the first Indian prime minister visit in 17 years.

A possible topic will be the revision of the 1950 India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

The treaty has been under attack in Nepal since the abolition of the monarchy in 2008, especially the "secret" side letters to the treaty that require Nepal to consult India on its defense policy.

This provision is perceived by Nepalis as unfair, and is a source of anti-India sentiment in Nepal.

With Bangladesh, India has not ratified the 1974 bilateral agreement on border demarcation. Modi's BJP was among the fiercest opponents of former prime minister Manmohan Singh's endeavors to reach an accord on border demarcation. Besides this, the issue of illegal migration from Bengal remains tricky.

Modi also has to balance a resentful Tamil Nadu and the distant ties with the Sri Lanka government, as well as remain supportive to Maldives to maintain India's special diplomatic status there.

During the era of then prime minister Indira Gandhi, her initiative on securing the Himalayan states under the Indian sphere of influence brought a height of India's hegemonic position in the region.

Only until the 1990s did India begin to implement the Gujral Doctrine to soften its relations with its immediate neighbors.

Facing a similarly complex environment, China is implementing neighborhood diplomacy, in order to realize a more peaceful and healthy relations with neighboring states. Now Modi is taking the same platform.

For emerging countries with global ambitions like China and India, developing  beneficial polices toward small neighbors is a logical goal, since under certain circumstances both are willing to give up some economic benefits in exchange for sound political influence in the region.

China has long been the world's economic engine, and its economic rise and development pattern can be referenced and learned from by other developing countries. Modi, thanks to his performance as governor of Gujarat, has become an icon of development and prosperity in the subcontinent.

Their simultaneous adoption of neighborhood diplomacy will no doubt help drive regional peace and development.

As to China and India, this will help bring solid backyards and provide precious political resources for larger goals. In broader terms, they simultaneously fall into each other's platform on neighborhood diplomacy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has accepted an invitation to visit India in mid-September, a timely occasion for both sides to discuss more concrete cooperation measures.

Considering the good will and the existing cooperation between China and India, especially their recent success in bringing out the new BRICS bank, more can be expected.

Both want a healthy and peaceful regional environment. Cooperation and agreement between China and India will be vital to successful implementation of their individual plans for neighborhood diplomacy.

The author is a PhD candidate at the Department of International Relations, Tsinghua University. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn