We often hear the phrase 'India has a right to pursue its national interest', but deciding to pursue the national interest is far removed from successfully pursuing it. This book argues India's problems with its neighbours are easily solvable if only India can disentangle itself from the stories itself created to convince others. The book argues that the successful pursuit of self-interest calls for wisdom, freedom from the past and above all compassion.

Things have not improved very much since 2000 when then American President Bill Clinton described the Kashmir border as the "most dangerous place in the world." Considering the explosive mix of nuclear weapons, religious radicalism and instability in Afghanistan, it may not be an exaggeration to consider India's foreign policy as least imaginative and unwise. The whole world may have to pay a heavy price for this policy based on primitive nationalism.

This book covers the background and contemporary developments in India's foreign policy-making, which will help the reader have a critical grasp of the subject.