BOOK REVIEW: Shyam Saran, How India Sees the World: Kautilya to the 21st Century (New Delhi: Juggernaut)

This ‘part-thesis’ and ‘part-memoir’ guided by thoughtful analysis and reassessment of the most critical episodes and manoeuvres in India’s foreign policy since its Independence, enables the reader to distinguish between the various threads that tie together the author’s exemplary experiences as a diplomat. In the course of this wonderful journey, the writer rediscovers startling similarities between our ancient treatises on state-craft, their enduring relevance to our present position in the international order and our transitioning world-view. As the book gradually progresses, Shyam Saran ,with an enviable wealth of knowledge pertaining to policy formulation and implementation coupled with over four decades of hands-on experience in the Indian Foreign Services, helps illuminate the contemporary challenges faced in global politics, the issue of security transcending borders and India’s relations with its next-door neighbours with an eye for great detail and traces India’s recent diplomatic history with its traditional and revered culture. He also treats the readers to exclusive behindthe-scenes negotiations on pivotal issues such as the Indo-US nuclear deal and Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, revealing strategic inflection points in the course of engagements with our partners-in-progress.