his book consists essays by some of the world’s best minds on international relations and strategic affairs. The constant theme throughout this volume has been to highlight the fact that as the world comes to terms with a rising India Indians must in turn learn to shoulder the burdens that come with being an important power. Gone are the days when Indian policy makers found it difficult psychologically to bring new situations into perspective missing thereby historic opportunities for positive formulations in world politics on many focal questions. Gone are also the days when Indians were forced to find virtues in being passive negative and peripheral. Today’s imperatives are different. Therefore India’s biggest foreign policy challenge now lies in changing the old mindsets of the Indians that their country can remain a bystander to the actions of other powers. The choices India makes today have the potential to change outcomes on almost all global issues. The end of the Cold War has liberated India to simultaneously deepen it relations with all the major power centres. India can no longer remain bound by the Cold War paradigm where good relations with one power automatically entailed negative consequences with its rivals. Contributors to this volume have examined in details how the old strategic thinking and foreign policy vision in India were sustained strengthening in the process the causes of India’s rivals and foes. They have also discussed how this old mindset could and must change so that India along with its friends and partners could excel in the global power structure. Their well researched and dispassionately analyzed essays are intended to contribute significantly to the debate on critical aspects of India’s geopolitics as the country celebrates the sixtieth anniversary of its independence this year.
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