India's uneven quest to master technology

Learnings from Delhi's past should help in shaping the future as the country bets big on new critical technologies

- Dhruva Jaishankar

When I set out to write a book about India's international relations, I did not necessarily appreciate the centrality of the role of technology. But in setting out the basis of India's international relations—past, present, and future—in Vishwa Shastra: India and the World, I could not escape considering the critical role that technology has played, and continues to play, in the country's international engagement.

Throughout history, technological developments have shaped competition and cooperation between countries. In India's case, it can be traced back to the spread of writing, agricultural, and metallurgical techniques in prehistoric and ancient times. At various points, India was a regional leader in certain technologies, including mathematics, stone masonry, and seafaring. The spread of technology around what we might now call the Indo-Pacific accelerated around the 10th century, with India's export of medicinal, astronomical, and agricultural knowledge, and its import of gunpowder and paper-making techniques. The circulation of technology also took some unexpected turns, such as the diffusion of certain gunsmithing techniques from West Asia to India and from there to Europe.