The former diplomat, and current Minister of External Affairs in the Government of India, S Jaishankar, is releasing his new book “The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World”, on September 7.

In a press release, the publishers of the book HarperCollins India noted, “The very nature of international relations and its rules is changing and for India, this means optimal relationships with all the major powers to best advance its goals. Jaishankar analyses these challenges and spells out possible policy responses. In doing so, he is very conscious of balancing India’s national interest with international responsibilities. He places this thinking in the context of history and tradition, appropriate for a civilisational power that seeks to reclaim its place on the world stage.”

Meanwhile, as per the release, Jaishankar, who on Twitter called the book a two-year-project, has highlighted three major foreign policy burdens for India from the past.

“One is the 1947 Partition, which reduced the nation both demographically and politically. An unintended consequence was to give China more strategic space in Asia. Another is the delayed economic reforms that were undertaken a decade and a half after those of China … the 15-year gap continues to put India at a great disadvantage.”

The third, he says, is the prolonged exercise of the nuclear option. “As a result, India has had to struggle mightily to gain influence in a domain that could have come so much more easily earlier…”

Notably, Jaishankar is regarded as one of the foremost foreign policy experts in India having served as the Foreign Secretary (2015-18), Ambassador to the US (2013-15), Ambassador to China (2009-13), High Commissioner to Singapore (2007-09) and Ambassador to the Czech Republic (2000-04). In addition, he has had other diplomatic assignments in Moscow, Colombo, Budapest and Tokyo, as well as in the Indian President’s Secretariat.

-TIN Bureau