From the archive, 29 Apr 2005

BOOK REVIEW

          C Raja Mohan, ‘Crossing the Rubicon; The Shaping of India’s New Foreign Policy’ ; New Delhi, Penguin, 2003, pp 321, Rs 450/-.

 

          C Raja Mohan in dedicating his book to the doyen of Indian strategists, Mr K Subrahmanyam, thanks him for the teaching on ‘standing up against conventional wisdom’. This homage on the passing of the baton epitomises the changed strategic perception shaping India’s ‘new’ foreign policy.

 

          It is widely believed that India’s ‘crossing of the Rubicon‘ is best illustrated by Pokhran II. However it could equally plausibly be dated to the onset of Manmohanomics of the early 90s. Since liberalisation was in turn anchored in  incremental changes initiated under Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, there appears to be a continuity in India’s engagement with the world that has over the years brought about the shift from ‘the power of argument’ to ‘the argument of power’. While consensus on this change has always appeared a step behind, there is no turning back from what the author describes as the ‘diplomacy of the Second Republic’.

 

There is no better guide to conduct readers through these interesting times than C Raja Mohan, a nuclear physicist armed with a doctoral degree in international relations from the prestigious School of International Studies, JNU. As the strategic affairs editor of ‘Hindu’, Raja Mohan has had a ring side view of South Block over the past decade and more to the extent of being an ‘insider’. He recounts an instance of usage made of strategists cum journalists such as him by the US in communicating sensitive opinions to India’s otherwise prickly strategic establishment. Strobe Talbott, former Clinton aide famous for his extended dialogue with Mr. Jaswant Singh post Pokharan II, in his recent memoir corroborates this. While the noted commentator AG Noorani finds such association compromising to journalistic ethics, it can be excused as Raja Mohan’s manner of ‘staying ahead of the curve’ – a legacy he attributes to K Subrahmanyam, the man noted for refusing Padma awards for his life time contribution to Indian strategic culture.

          Raja Mohan represents the new breed of strategists that came to fore over the 90s as India widened its connectivity with the world as an increasingly self-regarding and self-assured power. He recounts India’s moves and the challenges it has overcome since the early 90s from ending up on the wrong side at the end of the Cold War. To Raja Mohan, India has reemerged over the turn of the century through engaging the US, reviving ties with Russia, emulating China and containing Pakistan. India has since not only rediscovered Lord Curzon’s vision of an expanded role in its region but is also attempting a reform of the subcontinent through the Gujral doctrine and the continuing of Mr. Vajpayee’s peace initiatives with Pakistan. To each of these areas, Raja Mohan devotes a chapter with an analytical vigour no doubt influenced by his earlier stint with the IDSA and a lucidity of style becoming of a former Washington correspondent of a leading daily noted for its critical coverage of global events, ‘Hindu’. He alights on India’s strength being its commitment to the Enlightenment project, while forewarning that incipient communal devisiveness has the potential to derail India’s claiming of the twenty first as it’s own century.

 

          Raja Mohan’s assessment of India’s inter related relationships with the USA, China and Pakistan is based on a ‘national interest first’ model. He forwards the view that engaging the USA should be on Indian terms instead of becoming part of the super power’s game of containing the emerging challenger China. With respect to China he advocates a pragmatic policy entailing  mutually beneficial economic ties and a settlement of the boundary question. On Pakistan, he pushes for a containment policy to engineer an internal transformation in Pakistan. However his major thrust is for ‘zones of economic cooperation’ among ‘regions that were once part of same cultural and political space’.  

 

          The book is lucidly written primer for both the uninitiated and the enthusiast. It is well produced and includes photos of milestones along India’s journey to  its aim of being a Great Power in a multipolar world. Raja Mohan deals with issues in their context, content and possible outcomes, thereby making it an excellent text for the uniformed readership seeking an understanding of their profession as foreign policy tool.

 

          Before ending, it bears mentioning that the book is a product of its era – that of India Shining. The underside of India – its poverty, its social revolution, its grassroots governance – barely find mention as foreign policy drivers. That this India cannot be ignored by its polity has been proven. Shaping a foreign policy autonomously of this Indian reality is likely to similarly lack substance in the tradition of India’s larger than life image in the early period of Nehru’s era. The danger is in the potential for an Icarus like outcome.  It is best therefore for India to nurse its determinants of power particularly cohesion and an equitable economy. A ‘feel good’ foreign policy may prove as delusional as the phrase itself.  India’s arrival is inevitable, making haste would only delay it. In all fairness, Raja Mohan acknowledges in conclusion that India’s place in the world would be dependent on the out come of the ongoing ‘struggle for the soul of India’.