Book Review: How India Sees The World by Shyam Saran

The book is written in a temporal manner, right from times of Mahabharata. Author has tried to interpret India’s foreign policy and world view during different eras. He has analysed the theories and writing, related to foreign policy, from different tall standing personalities of the past such as Kautilya (Arthashastra), Ashoka (Royal Edicts), etc and other ancient treaties on state crafts in the beginning, and then moving to assertiveness in foreign policy under present government, towards the end of book. Throughout the book, the author constantly reveals interesting anecdotes and keeps connecting them to Kautilya’s Arthashastra. 

Author refers to the entire Indian Sub-continent as one homogenous land, geopolitically as well as ecologically. On similar lines, he explains the idea of South Asian Customs Union, Common Currency as well as South Asian Parliament. Author believes that India has played and will continue to play the most significant part in growth and development of Indian Subcontinent. 

The book is divided into three major parts, viz PART I: Tradition and History, PART II: Neighbours, and PART III: The Wider World. 

In the PART I, the author has tried to link the significance of Arthashastra for contemporary events happening around India. For example, he talks about Mandala theory of Kautilya which is important to exercise suzerainty in the neighbourhood, not as part of aggression but for stable and peaceful borders. Author has also emphasised on the fact that India’s foreign policy is deeply influenced by history, particularly bitter experience of foreign rule and humiliation. Second half of PART I is devoted to cold war times and how India played a significant role through its pet, Non-Alignment Movement. There he also explains how the NAM was borne out of a sense of practicality and primarily served our own strategic interests. It was India’s own way of asserting our autonomy, when the entire world was torn between two blocks. 

In PART II, the author has restricted himself to three neighbours, Pakistan, China, and Nepal. While talking about Pakistan, he explicitly mentioned our love-hate relationship with Pakistan mostly riding up and down because of terrorist attacks. After every terrorist attack, the talks between India and Pakistan are suspended. India-Pakistan relations remain a prisoner of partition even today. Author calls this relationship “dialogue-disruption-dialogue” with an endless cycle. India’s basic problem is that its leaders have no credible response options between the extreme choices of military retaliation and appeasement when it comes to Pakistan sponsored terrorism.

While talking about China, the author is of the opinion that we still have not been able to understand China. We are still not able to understand their strategic thinking. For Chinese contemporary memory, India remains a supplier of opium. In fact, the whole Tibet issue is British Rule’s gift for India and China. Through his experience as Indian Diplomat in China, the author also explains acceptance of McMahon Line between India and China by Chinese premier Zhou Enlai, but orally. Author does the chronological inspection of Indo-China border issues, related conventions and agreements. He also mentions the proposed arrangement of mutual recognition of McMahon Line by China and India, in East and West regions of India, respectively. Today, it is particularly important for India to understand the psyche of China, because it is going to dominate the world economically, technologically as well as militarily. 

In PART III, the author has covered some important events like Climate Change, Energy Security, Indo-US Nuclear Deal (123 Agreement) and India’s role in shaping the emerging world order. Author explains that developed countries of today had their domestic economic and social indices rising hand in hand with their overall GDP growth and international profile. This is not the case with major emerging and developing powers like India, Brazil, China and South Africa. The author describes these countries as “premature powers” and “transitional powers”.

He did agree that India could not maximise gains in the Paris Agreement of 2015. Developed economies (Western and European) could easily sideline India’s call for “Common But Differentiated Responsibilities” (CBDR) and moved towards “pledge and review”. Author argues that India can come up with an ecologically sustainable strategy of growth, based on its own traditional respect for nature as a source of nurture, it could help bring ecological sanity back into international discourse. 

However, as a diplomat, the author's greatest contribution in India’s foreign policy is his role in negotiating Indo-US Nuclear Deal. He was appointed Prime Minister’s special envoy for nuclear diplomacy. He explains the hurdle caused in negotiation because of USA's historic allergy towards India’s Non-Alignment stand. The negotiations were meticulously done to avoid another Tarapore incidence, in which the USA had unilaterally stopped supply of nuclear fuel. Author outlines four broad developments behind the Indo-US 123 Agreement, revolving around globalisation and the rising significance of India on global platforms. With NSG clearance achieved, the 123 Agreement was passed by US Congress on 1 October 2008, just before the deadline for US Presidential elections. He also tells interesting behind the curtain anecdotes and his personal stories during these negotiations. The stories, full of tactics, are enriching and educating aspiring diplomats.

Finally, the author writes on India’s role within the new emerging world order, as an era of American unipolarity comes to an end for a more multipolar world. Globalisation has helped to deepen the interdependent and interconnectedness. The challenges like Climate Change, Terrorism, Energy Security etc are existing without borders and needs to be tackled with global cooperation. Author reminds readers of the civilisational values of India rooted in diversity and plurality, in the end.