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AVTAR
SINGH BHASIN (b. 1935). BA (HONS); MA in History. Initially
he had short stints of service in the National Archives of India
and the Ministry of Defence. In 1963 he joined the
Ministry of External Affairs where he served for three decades,
retiring in 1993 as Director of the Historical Division. He
was posted in Indian missions in Nepal, Bonn, Vienna, and Lagos.
He traveled to several other countries in the discharge of his
duties in the Ministry. Some of the countries visited were USA,
China, South Africa, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Russia,
Ukraine, Belarus, Hungary, etc. He was member of several ministerial
and official delegations for discussions with various countries
both in India and abroad.
Since
retirement he has taken to academic research. He was Senior
Fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research from 1994
- 96. He was Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Contemporary
Studies, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library from 1997 to 2001.
He has edited and authored several books on South Asian affairs.
He also contributed many articles in newspapers on developments
in the neighbouring countries. His 75 pieces on Partition
and Freedom were published in the Asian Age consecutively
from June 1 to August 14, 1997 coinciding with the Golden
jubilee celebrations of the Indian independence.
Interaction
among sovereign countries is essentially matching of sovereign
but competing interests. Reconciling these interests calls
for ingenuity of the highest order. It is the outcome of these
interactions that constitute foreign relations. In each country
they evoke response from diverse sources - public, media,
academia, business and industry etc. Public discourse on foreign
relations today takes place as much in drawing rooms of the
elite as in the chaupals of the villages across the country.
The newspapers satisfy the needs of the curious and the sundry.
But for the intellectuals and the professionals the semantics
hold the key to the understanding of any issue. A scientific
study requires the availability of full text of documents
without much ado.
India
with a population of a billion people is not only one of the
largest and fastest emerging economies but also a political
power to reckon with in the international arena. The
477 documents gathered in the book offer a window to the understanding
of how India looks at the world and vice a versa. They
too present a study in continuity and change in India's foreign
policy - continuity in the ideals set during the Nehruvian
era, and change to meet the dynamics of present day world. |
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