Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
On May 11, 1998 , three nuclear devices exploded under the Thar, or
Great Indian Desert, shaking the surrounding villagesand the rest of the world.
The immediate effect was to plunge U.S.-India relations, already vexed by
decades of tension and estrangement, into a new acrimonious standoff. The
situation deteriorated further when Pakistan responded with a test of its own
two weeks later.
ENGAGING INDIA is the revealing, authoritative account of the
intensive talks that the United States conducted on parallel tracks with the
South Asian nuclear powers over the next two and a half years. Bill Clintons
point man for that high-stakes diplomacy takes us behind the scenes of one of
the most intriguing and consequential political dramas of our time,
reconstructing what happenedand whywith narrative verve, rich human detail, and
penetrating analysis.
From June 1998 through September 2000, in the most extensive
engagement ever between the United States and India, Deputy Secretary of State
Strobe Talbott and Minister of External Affairs Jaswant Singh met fourteen times
in seven countries on three continents. They grappled with the urgent issue of
arms control and nonproliferation, but they also discussed their visions for the
U.S.-Indian relationship, the potential for economic and strategic cooperation
between the two countries, and the implications of Hindu nationalism for the
evolution of Indian society, politics, and security. Their personal rapport
helped raise the level of trust between the two governments. As a result, the
United States was able to play a crucial role in defusing the crisis between
India and Pakistan over the contested territory of Kashmir in the summer of
1999thus, perhaps, averting a war that could have escalated to nuclear
conflagration.
The Talbott-Singh dialogue laid the ground for Clintons
transformational visit to South Asia in March 2000. That presidential journey
opened a new chapter in relations between the United States and India. It also
set the scene for U.S. cooperation with both India and Pakistan in the war
against terror after September 11, 2001.
In addition to providing an insiders perspective on a fascinating and
instructive episode in diplomatic history, the story told here is vital
background for understanding what happens next in a region that is home to
nearly a quarter of humanity and that was, at the beginning of the twenty-first
century, “the most dangerous place on earth.”
Author Description:
Strobe Talbott is president of the Brookings Institution. He served
as deputy secretary of state from 1994 to 2001. For twenty-one years prior to
his service in government, he was correspondent and columnist for Time magazine.
He has written nine books, including The Russia Hand: A Memoir of Presidential
Diplomacy (Random House, 2002), a personal account of U.S. diplomacy toward
Russia during the Clinton administration.
Synopsis
India's successful test of a nuclear bomb in 1998 set off a top-level round of talks between the United States and India, conducted primarily by Deputy Secretary of State Talbott (now president of the Brookings Institution) and Indian Minister of External Affairs Jaswant Singh. The talks led to a much closer relationship between India and the United States before the move back towards Pakistan in the wake of the 9-11 attacks. Although the problem of nuclear proliferation was at the heart of the talks, Talbott makes clear in this diplomatic memoir that the discussions and issues were much more wide ranging. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Director for South Asia, Center for Strategic and International Studies - Teresita C. Schaffer
"Strobe Talbott's seminal dialogue with Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh laid the intellectual and policy foundation for a transformed U.S. relationship with a newly nuclear India. He conveys the drama of the time and the difficult policy choices both sides faced, but also the lighter moments that accompanied this two-way voyage of discovery. A 'must read' book for anyone interested in how the United States deals with one of the decades most important rising powers."
Editorials
Michael Dobbs
Talbott's account of the frenetic diplomacy that ensued after India tested three nuclear weapons on May 11, 1998, serves to underline why the bomb holds such allure for many developing-world governments. Until that moment, India was, in Clinton's phrase, the Rodney Dangerfield of nations -- never getting enough respect. Almost overnight, India shot to the top of Washington's agenda. After its enemy Pakistan replied with its own nuclear test a few weeks later, Clinton concluded that "the world was closer even than during the Cuban missile crisis to a nuclear war."— The Washington Post
George Perkovich
"With humor, grace and insight, Strobe Talbott chronicles a fascinating journey of diplomacy to overcome decades of U.S.-Indian estrangement and achieve a foundation of trust on which to build a relationship in the 21st century. Talbotts story reveals that while India will be neither an adversary nor a tool of the United States, it can be a friend."—Vice President for Studies, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Richard G. Lugar
"Once again Strobe Talbott demonstrates not only a keen analytical mind but a writing style that is both insightful and easy on the readers mind as well as the eyes. From the time that Assistant Secretary of State Phyllis Oakley informs him of the Indian nuclear test to the completion of Talbotts marathon dialogues with his Indian counterpart, the reader feels he or she has shared the issue with Strobe and made inputs to the American position. The book not only enlightens the reader on the ebbs and flows in the Indian-American bilateral relationship through both bad and improving times. It is a primer on the "do's" and "dont's" of nuclear diplomacy."—United States Senator
Richard Haass
Strobe Talbott has written a gem of a diplomatic memoir. This ultimate insider account of American efforts to steer relations with and between India and Pakistan after their 1998 nuclear tests manages the hat trick of being candid, fair, and authoritative. The result is an ENGAGING INDIA that is truly engaging.—President, Council on Foreign Relations
Kishore Mahbubani
"The recent reconciliation and reengagement of America with India was not inevitable. Suspicions ran deep. The geopolitics were messy. But Strobe Talbott and Jaswant Singh reached out across the divide and, in a Herculean effort, pulled their two countries together and, in so doing, changed the chemistry of the globe. This triumph over history is now recorded in a compelling memoir. Strobe provides both engaging first-person accounts and deep reflections. As a foreign policy aficionado, I found it a gripping read."—Author of Can Asians Think? and Beyond the Age of Innocence: A Worldly View of America (forthcoming)
Teresita C. Schaffer
"Strobe Talbott's seminal dialogue with Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh laid the intellectual and policy foundation for a transformed U.S. relationship with a newly nuclear India. He conveys the drama of the time and the difficult policy choices both sides faced, but also the lighter moments that accompanied this two-way voyage of discovery. A 'must read' book for anyone interested in how the United States deals with one of the decades most important rising powers."—Director for South Asia, Center for Strategic and International Studies