THE WORLD AS IT IS

THREE CLEAR-SIGHTED INDIVIDUALS FROM THE RANKS OF THE INDIAN FOREIGN SERVICES ESCHEW POP GEOPOLITICS AND GIVE US A VIEW OF THINGS AS THEY ARE AND NOT HOW WE WOULD LIKE THEM TO BE

- T.C.A. Raghavan

INDIA VS. UK

The Story of an Unprecedented Diplomatic Win

by Syed Akbaruddin HARPERCOLLINS

₹599; 240 pages

KATHMANDU DILEMMA

Resetting India-Nepal Ties

by Ranjit Rae VINTAGE

₹499; 224 pages

THE FRACTURED HIMALAYA

India, Tibet, China, 1949-1962

By Nirupama Rao INDIA VIKING

₹999; 640 pages

These three books cover a wide swathe of Indian foreign policy today: our multilateral approaches and postures; our immediate neighbour to the north— Nepal; and the country every foreign office focuses on—China.

Former Permanent Representative to the UN Akbaruddin’s book India vs UK describes the election for an Indian judge to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2017. While the outcome is known, his animated and event-filled narrative maintains dramatic tension to the end. In early 2016, the ICJ was not even on the government’s radar. Things changed as the Kulbhusan Jadhav case made the ICJ more valuable than simply a comfortable perch for an Indian judge. Even so, by the time India announced its candidature in mid-2017, with the elections due in November, much time had been lost.