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Image of the Book — The India Way — Strategies For An Uncertain World by Dr. S Jaishankar
My Thoughts on the Book ‘The India Way — Strategies for an Uncertain World’
External Affairs and its policies play a very important role in the progress of a nation based on the relationship it shares with its neighbors. Previously, our understanding was that happenings in other nations are just occurrences, which we read in newspapers and other media, but these days, it has been observed that events in other countries have the ability to cause major impact in the surrounding region and the world.
Let us take an example, any war fought in any country today, will have great economic impact in neighboring countries as well as nations which are far away from the region. Trade and Economics are one of the major parameters which gets affected.
Dr. S Jaishankar writes in his book ‘The India Way — Strategies for an Uncertain World’ — Indifference to global developments is no longer affordable; in fact, it is downright dangerous. To most people, however, foreign policy by its very nature tends to be focused on the ‘foreign’ part. It immediately evokes distance and divergence. It suggests ‘other’ people who speak, think and act differently. All of that may be true but the growing reality is that foreign policy has now reached our homes.
The foreign policy of India is changing and we need to have a better sense of our surroundings and a wider sense of the world in order to make changes in our external policy. At some point of time, it is also seen that, any particular nation gets additional attention because of its skilled manpower, the types of imports based on the surplus of products and the type of participation a nation makes towards a greater cause. The author has beautifully expressed the position of India from the previous years and new thoughts in the present era, stating that as a nation we are now becoming an influencer and not a nation to be influenced.
The book beautifully states the role played by the Government during the crisis of Indians abroad and that all Indians who are outside this country need to feel safe. This is beautifully expressed through the following lines: Every Indian out in the world must have the confidence that we have his or her back. By each measure, much has happened in the last eight years. Operation Ganga, in that sense, is more than an evacuation; it is equally a message.
As the world is changing, so is the perspective of seeing the globe in a new light. So, new areas of research and cooperation are likely to play a major role in policy making and just not the economic gains. As the world tries to meet the Sustainable development goals, so is our nation. The next generation of co-operation is likely to be on Environment, Climate Change, Global Warming and technologies, which have the ability to change the world towards better. All these needs specified talents and If a nation has the ability to generate such talents, it works like wonders. This also means that the nation needs to train its citizens so that trained human power can help other nations to move ahead with the help of newer technologies. In the Chapter Krishna’s choice, the author has beautifully analyzed each scenario analyzing the same with relation to the characters of an epic. The book also enriches everyone’s knowledge about the recent agreements that India has concluded with different nations like the ‘White Shipping Agreement.’
The book also showcases some facts with analysis about the relationship India and China faces and that their determination to work together can govern the Asian Century. However, there are challenges in this relationship, but the ties are very significant in this 21st century.
I feel after reading this book that it provides a detailed analysis of foreign policy of India. I feel that this literature is an easy go for researchers in foreign policy. However, it would have been wonderful to know from the vast experience of the author the way ahead for nations to thrive in a mutually beneficial way in the post covid world, wherein Nations may likely find difficulty to address inflation, market gaps, reducing poverty, hunger and risk reduction strategies. Can India help to address these subjects and gain through external relation policies? Some more strategies to strengthen the nation from inside and outside may have been useful for readers.
To end, let me quote a few lines from the book — The rise of India, like other aspects of international relations, is a story without an ending. It may not always unfold smoothly, sometimes for reasons that are beyond our control. But, each generation passes on the torch to the next, hopefully a little brighter.
Excerpts Taken from the book — The India Way — Strategies For An Uncertain World, written by Dr. S. Jaishankar, currently the External Affairs Minister of India. He is also a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House), India.
If I have to rate the book on 10 stars and 10 being the highest, I will give the book 9 stars.
(Please Note: The above are my own personal thoughts after going through the book. Your views and opinions after reading the book may differ)
This is all from me in this article. Hope you have liked my personal thoughts and opinions.
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Thanks and Regards:
Mainak Majumdar, Book Critic
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