World Upside Down : India Recalibrates Its Geopolitics

by Sujan R. Chinoy, S. Jaishankar (Foreword)

" After transiting from bipolarity to unipolarity in the closing decade of the last century, the world has drifted towards multipolarity. In an era of rapidly shifting balance of power, the US, China and the EU are significant poles, but Russia, Japan and rising powers like India are playing a crucial role in shaping the emerging world order. Power remains fractured today with hedging and multi-alignment being the new norms. The Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have added to the fragility of global consensus. This is an extraordinary moment for India to secure a strong pole position as it navigates a geopolitical landscape in flux. How is it playing to its strengths and maintaining its upward trajectory? How is India dealing with myriad regional and international challenges as it forges a new destiny? In this insightful new book, Sujan Chinoy brings his considerable diplomatic and security expertise to bear on the key question - how is India recalibrating its strategic thinking to deal with a tumultuous world that often, and increasingly, appearsuntethered and upside down? "

312 pages, Paperback

Published August 30, 2023

Reviews

[Walter Sylesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the more updated and better books on India's foreign policy out there. In providing a snapshot of an experienced Indian diplomat's views from 2019-2022, the book does justice to its sub-theme of informing the reader of the Geopolitical recalibration India has and will make.

Ambassador Chinoy has written better than how our External Affairs Minister did in his The India Way. I would love to read more detailed accounts on the topic of India's neighbourhood, Act East Policy and on China and Japan from him for this reason.

It is a ready reckoner of basic but essential facts that any student or follower of India's foreign policy must know. No complex words/terms or diplomatic double-speak in this book which was great. Ambassador Chinoy really shined in his analysis of the India- China border issue and of India's relationship with Japan.

Although it is but a logical arrangement of various essays and editorials written by him between 2019-2022, the essays that are written after his posting in Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses do reflect a marked bias and homage to the present ruling government and its policies. Small wonder that the book found endorsement by the external Affairs Minister who has generously written a foreword too. This brings the book down a notch for me as much as most of its claims are justified and some praise to the ruling dispensation is well-deserved. It just opens doors for a few to dismiss the book as propaganda and not engage with it.

Will recommend first-timers and enthusiasts to have this book handy to understand their country better.

[Vineeth Nair · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting collection of articles written by the author over the last three years. Good insights into India and her neighbourhood. Must read.