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This book provides an authoritative account of the first significant overseas diplomatic missions and forays made by Indian civil servants. It recounts the key events in the formative decades of Indian foreign policy and looks at the prominent figures who were at the centre of this decisive period of change.
The book explores the history and evolution of the civil and foreign services in India during the last leg of British rule and the following era of post-independence Nehruvian politics. Rich in archival material, it looks at official files, correspondences and diaries documenting the terms served by the pioneers of Indian diplomacy, Girja Shankar Bajpai, K.P.S. Menon and Subimal Dutt, in Africa, China, the USSR and other countries and their relationship with the Indian political leadership. The book also analyses and pieces together the activities, strategies, worldviews and contributions of the first administrators and diplomats who shaped India's approach to foreign policy and its relationship with other political powers.
An essential read for researchers and academics, this book will be a useful resource for students of international relations, foreign policy, political science and modern Indian history, especially those interested in the history of Indian foreign affairs. It will also be of great use to general readers who are interested in the history of politics and diplomacy in India and South Asia.
List of contents
List of photographs. Preface. Acknowledgements. Abbreviations. Introduction. I. Set-Up. 1. How it all began – Indians overseas 2. Key Protagonists – Girja Shankar Bajpai, K.P.S. Menon and Subimal Dutt II. Interwar Years - The Department of Education, Health and Lands 3. South Africa 4. East Africa 5. Ceylon 6. Malaya 7. Fiji, British Guiana, Australia and North America 8. World War II III. Nehruvian Foreign Policy 9. Return to Power 10. The Bajpai Years in the MEA 11. Bajpai’s Heirs 12. Conclusion. Bibliography. Index.
About the author
Amit Das Gupta is Senior Researcher at the Universität der Bundeswehr, München, Germany. His previous work includes Serving India: A Political Biography of Subimal Dutt (1903–1992), India’s Longest Serving Foreign Secretary; The Sino-Indian War of 1962: New Perspectives (coedited with Lorenz M. Lüthi, McGill); and Handel, Hilfe, Hallstein-Doktrin. Die bundesdeutsche Südasienpolitik unter Adenauer und Erhard 1949 bis 1966.
Summary
This book provides an authoritative account of the first significant overseas diplomatic missions and forays made by Indian civil servants. It recounts the key events in the formative decades of Indian foreign policy and looks at the prominent figures who were at the centre of this decisive period of change.
