Vishwa Shastra - by Dhruva Jaishankar (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In Vishwa Shastra, Dhruva Jaishankar provides a comprehensive overview of India's interactions with the world--from ancient times to the present day. He describes a long tradition of Indian statecraft and strategic thinking on international affairs, charts early India's relations with a vast geography from the Mediterranean and Africa to Southeast and Northeast Asia, and captures the costs and consequences of European colonialism. Jaishankar also describes India's territorial, economic and governance challenges upon Independence and the origins of India's rivalries with Pakistan and China.

Speaking to a wide audience that includes policymakers, scholars and especially students, Vishwa Shastra offers both rich historical context and forward-looking strategies for India. Highlighting India's transition from Cold War non-alignment to post-Cold War realignment, Jaishankar outlines India's strategic objectives: bolstering national power, securing the neighborhood, maintaining a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, and leading at international institutions.

Balanced, comprehensive and rigorous, Vishwa Shastra goes beyond shedding light on how India can maneuver in a challenging geopolitical landscape and advance its interests in an interconnected world: it gives us a clear-eyed perspective on how India might actually define the emerging world order.

Review Quotes

A comprehensive look at India's role in the world from ancient times to the twenty-first century, that highlights the importance of technology to India's development, growth, and future--Nandan Nilekani, co-founder and chairman, Infosys and Founding Chairman UIDAI (Aadhaar)

A fascinating exposition on the evolution of Indian foreign policy that addresses audiences both at home and abroad with profound insights on India's growing international role and its determined efforts to secure a bigger global footprint. Importantly, this is a work imbued with a deep understanding of India's history and the rich civilizational legacy that it brings to the world. At the same time, Vishwa Shastra is future-oriented, interpreting India to a world that increasingly needs to understand this complex country as it becomes a leading power on the international stage--Nirupama Rao, former Indian foreign secretary and Ambassador to the United States and China

Dhruva Jaishankar's Vishwa Shastra: India and the World is an impressive tour d'horizon spanning centuries of India's strategic thought, traditions of statecraft, and contemporary foreign policy. In a period where the implications of India's rise transcend conventional niches, Dhruva's clarity of thought backed by an encyclopaedic compendium of credible sources, comes as a timely intervention. A must-read for every reader curious to make sense of India's current (and future) role in a rapidly changing world--Shashi Tharoor, member of Parliament (Lok Sabha)

Does the old international order get new India? Dhruva Jaishankar's tome traces the past and the future of India's place in the world. He calls out the outdated boxes and cliches still used for India--a stubborn inability to reflect changing realities. India is the face of a new kind of contestation in global affairs. It is pushing to reset flailing multilateral institutions even as it builds new coalitions in the Middle East, Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. India is the change-agent nobody saw coming--Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief and chairman, Print

In offering this valuable introduction to India's international relations, Dhruva Jaishankar ably bridges the growing gap between the traditional discourse and the rapidly changing policy orientation as well as explains Delhi's new diplomatic vocabulary. Vishwa Shastra's lucid account of India's historical engagement with the world and Delhi's contemporary strategic priorities is a good place to start exploring India's growing global salience--C. Raja Mohan, Visiting Research Professor, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS)

India's rise as a global power hasn't yet generated a body of literature that looks at the world through distinctly Indian lens. Dhruva Jaishankar has attempted to fill this gap with a study of India's strategic impulses over the ages. It is an invaluable guide to the possible choices that India could make in the twenty-first century. This book is rich in scholarship and shaped by original thinking--Swapan Dasgupta, former member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)

About the Author

Dhruva Jaishankar is Executive Director of the Observer Research Foundation America (ORF America), which he helped establish in 2020. He previously held positions or affiliations with the Observer Research Foundation, Brookings India (now the Centre for Social and Economic Progress), the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Brookings Institution, the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University, and the the Lowy Institute. Since 2006, he has also been a frequent contributor to the Indian media, including the Hindustan Times and Indian Express. He was educated at Macalester College and Georgetown University.