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Muchkund Dubey, India's Foreign Policy: Coping with the Changing World, (New Delhi: Pearson Education, 2013), Pages: 320, Price: Rs. 699.
This book, by a former Foreign Secretary and a noted scholar on foreign affairs, is the first in a series of books on 'India and World' which the author intends to write. The author states that this volume is not a complete text on India's foreign policy as it leaves out certain important subjects concerning India's neighbours, regional organisations, multilateralism under the United Nations, new international economic order, security and disarmament etc. Pakistan, by his own admission, is a significant omission as he feels, somewhat, unprepared at this time. He plans to write a separate book on each of the subjects mentioned.
He, further states that the purpose of this book, and for that matter of the series intended by him, is to present a scholastic study of the topics covered by him including the current state, future challenges and strategies. It is not a collection of "juicy anecdotes of a retired diplomat" or a first-hand account of events in which he has been either a participant or a witness. Nor is this a history of India's relations with countries or various multilateral organisations although the requisite contextualisation has been undertaken by him. As he remarks in the introduction, he intended this book to be seen as "the only durable legacy of [his] thoughts, beliefs and perceptions." He is an accomplished diplomat with vast experience in handling bilateral and multilateral affairs at the highest levels of decision-making as well as an academician engaged in following the latest trends in global affairs and development issues. Therefore, his treatment of the subjects in this book displays scholastic depth and a practitioner' insight. He is keen - not without a dash of passion - to contribute to the ongoing animated discourse in India, both amongst the intelligentsia as well as the broader public, on the arguments and the counter- arguments about the choices before our country in the current fluid and uncertain times in global affairs.
The subjects, in this volume are of critical interest to anyone who is interested in the future of India and which have been handled with an impressive wealth of information and...