Beyond Non-Alignment: Dhruva Jaishankar’s 'Vishwa Shastra' Reasseses India’s Global Strategy

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ADITHYA KASHYAP: As the world's largest democracy, India represents a diverse array of voices and perspectives, recently emerging as the champion of the Global South and a staunch arbiter for peace in an unstable world. Despite its growing influence, a murky understanding of India’s ambitions persists, with few university courses dedicated to studying India and its foreign policy.

Dhruva Jaishankar SSP '11 aims to change this with his newest book 'Vishwa Shastra'. As Executive Director of ORF America and Non-Resident Fellow at the Lowy Institute, Jaishankar addresses the critical gap in understanding India's global objectives. Drawing from his extensive experience at think tanks and interactions with world leaders, he offers readers, especially students, a comprehensive view of India's evolving international position.

'Vishwa Shastra' tackles the scarcity of introductory material on India's international relations, debunking outdated myths about non-alignment, strategic culture, and India's global motivations. Jaishankar suggests that India is well-positioned to navigate a potential 'America First' approach under a second Trump administration, anticipating closer yet more transactional cooperation with the U.S., while acknowledging potential disagreements on trade and immigration.

In an exclusive interview with On the Record, Dhruva Jaishankar spoke to OTR’s Executive Editor, Adithya Kashyap CAS ’28, about ‘Vishwa Shastra’ and the impact he wishes to create with the book. 

Minor edits have been made for brevity and clarity.

AK: Mr. Jaishankar, you have had well over a decade of experience in international relations, with a wealth of expertise working at some of the world’s most esteemed think tanks and interacting with diverse world leaders. What motivated you to write ‘Vishwa Shastra’, and were there any personal anecdotes that compelled you to do so?

DJ: The simple motivation was that there was not a basic introductory book about India in international relations, whether for students, casual observers, or interested readers, either in India or abroad. I review a lot of the existing literature, but most is focused on specific experiences or themes, or too theoretical to serve as an introduction. This book, I believe, fills the gap. I had other motivations, including debunking what I think are some outdated myths about non-alignment, strategic culture, and India’s primary motivations, but these were secondary considerations.

AK: You mentioned that you wanted students, particularly those studying international relations, to read this book to become familiar with the changing nature of India’s foreign policy. For those of us at Georgetown passionate about international affairs, what common misconceptions about India's grand strategy do you believe persist in mainstream narratives? How might they adversely impact international engagement with India?

DJ: I think the biggest problem in the United States is simply a lack of knowledge or awareness about India. There are very few university courses on contemporary India and almost no study of modern languages at major universities. Moreover, what little commentary on India exists in the United States is heavily influenced by personalities or ideological factors. But beyond that, I think there’s too much emphasis on vague notions of “non-alignment,” “post-colonialism” and “strategic autonomy,” terms that are often mischaracterized and confusing, and in some cases no longer used in official parlance. Moreover, these terms often conflate means and goals. So a much-needed emphasis on empiricism—basic facts about what happened, when, and why – is often subordinated to an odd obsession with textualism. I don’t think this problem applies to the study of foreign policy of any other major country.  

AK: As we anticipate the second Trump administration, there is considerable discussion on campus about its potential impact on global relations. How does India perceive the “America First” approach to international alliances, and how does the nation plan to navigate its relationship with the United States in areas of strategic cooperation, economic collaboration, and regional security?

DJ: “America First” is a very natural impulse, in the sense that most countries prioritize their interest and can be quite transactional. The U.S. has been unusual in advancing a more expansive vision of a rules-based international order after World War II and especially after the end of the Cold War. But for India, this reversion to a more “normal” America is easier to understand and deal with, in contrast, say, to many U.S. allies who remain dependent on the United States for security and market access. Overall, I would anticipate closer—if more transactional—cooperation, but not without some disagreements, over trade and immigration. In relative terms, India is better placed than most to deal with Trump’s world. 

AK: What is the most crucial insight you hope Georgetown students, as aspiring diplomats and future policymakers, will derive from 'Vishwa Shastra' regarding the trajectory of India's foreign policy? How can students best leverage the strategic perspectives presented in your work to inform their future professional endeavors?

DJ: Well, I’m not sure yet that the book will get much traction here, largely because it has not been published in the United States, and is only available as an e-book. But a bigger problem is that despite the very large number of Indian students in the United States, few institutions of higher education have invested serious resources in the study of contemporary India (there are some noteworthy exceptions). I do hope though that students will find ways to read it, at the very least as a basic introduction and resource for initial research. Among other things, it includes over 250 books and articles as references, sorted by subject, for anyone seeking a deeper dive into various aspects of India’s international relations.

Adithya Kashyap is On The Record’s Executive Editor. He is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences intending to study Government and Economics. He is from Chennai, India, and endeavors to pursue a career in Foreign Service or International Trade.