Shivshankar Menon

A well-informed (naturally, given the author's position in the foreign service), wide and diligently drawn up account of India's foreign relations and international position. Given the wide range and time scale, the book (understandably) does not go into too much detail about any specific issue, for which the reader will have to take recourse to other, more constricted accounts. The style does tend to be somewhat long-winded, at times meandering, and often bland, saying little while using lots of words. The author, in this and other writings, tends to start a new section when one would expect a wrapping up. After laboring through the bulk of the book, one comes to the India-China chapter with many expectations, but the author seems to have glossed over the 1962 conflict with just a couple of sentences, seeming to ascribe the confrontation to difference of perceptions on Tibet, rather than addressing the need for a re-appraisal of Nehru's understanding and handling. Thus the author seems to have missed a precious opportunity to mold public perceptions and opinion in the direction of a more dispassionate and forward-looking policy toward China and the border condflict.… (plus d'informations)