Challenge and Strategy : Rethinking India's Foreign Policy

This book examines in detail India's foreign policy issues from an overarching strategic and policy perspective. It deals with trends rather than events, regions rather than individual countries, and underlying long-term factors rather than minute details.Challenge and Strategy: Rethinking India's Foreign Policy examines India's foreign policy options in order to ensure that the country retains its space for manoeuvre, to follow an independent foreign policy in the 21st century global scenario. India's foreign policy challenges are explained in detail with regard to its immediate and strategic neighbourhood namely South Asia, Tibet and China, ASEAN and East Asia, the Arab world, Iran and Israel and Central Asia and the Indian Ocean. The country's foreign policy related to Russia and the United States is also discussed in detail.A unique feature of the book is that it combines the perspectives of a historian, a diplomat and a scholar. The author has put forward many new out-of-the-box ideas and policy suggestions.This book is a must read for foreign policy professionals, diplomats, foreign policy institutes, policy makers and foreign policy analysts. It is also an important knowledge resource for the students of Indian politics, international relations, and defence and strategic studies, and for Indian civil services aspirants

Rajiv Sikri was a career diplomat for over 36 years with the Indian Foreign Service. He retired in 2006 as Secretary in India's Ministry of External Affairs with responsibility for India's relations with the Asia-Pacific region, the Arab world, Israel, Iran and Central Asia. He has held several other important senior positions in India, served as India's Ambassador to Kazakhstan, and has lived and worked in Moscow, Paris, New York and Kathmandu.