Writing in a hurry: Shashi Tharoor’s Pax Indica

Shashi Tharoor’s vanvas from South Block after he was forced to resign as minister of state for external affairs in April 2010 perhaps was a blessing in disguise. Had he remained an MEA insider, a book of the magnitude of Pax Indica would not have been possible.

In terms of the ground it covers, Pax Indica promises to be a seminal work on Indian diplomacy. And Tharoor is uniquely placed to undertake such an exercise – being one of the few Indians having extensive experience in international relations and yet not being constricted by an Indian Foreign Service background. In the 400-odd pages, Tharoor covers almost every possible aspect of the foreign policy challenges before the country in the 21st century.