EVENTS

Abstract

Atul Bhardwaj discusses his new book - India - America Relations (1942-62): Rooted in the Liberal International Order and the China factor in India America relations. He rejects the conventional orthodoxy that assigns a limited role to America and challenges narratives which neglect the natural asymmetries and focus on discord and differences to define India-America relations. He will narrate India’s encounter with the post-war hegemon and address why America occupies limited space in India’s postcolonial historiography. He provides a fresh perspective that indicates a deeply embedded Indo-US strategic relationship in which China looms large. He argues that both India as well as America’s reticence on the depth of their bonhomie in the Nehru era resulted from the political and strategic compulsions imposed by the arrival of communism in China.

About the Speaker

Atul Bhardwaj is an international affairs scholar. He writes a regular column on strategy in Economic and Political Weekly. He is currently Hon. Research Fellow in the Department of International Politics, City, University of London and an Adjunct Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies (ICS), New Delhi. He has a Ph.D. in History from Ambedkar University, Delhi. He is a former Indian Navy officer, holds a graduate degree from National Defence Academy (NDA), Pune and a Master’s Degree in War Studies from King’s College, London. He has been a Senior Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research and Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses New Delhi.