With the neighbours it wholesale solar power systems was an imperialist thing.Yes, India is a beacon, the main power along with China. Still, India won’t send her troops out, doesn’t want to be part of the world, we don’t want to join alliances, Blocs. Lal Bahadur Shastri, who had a very short tenure handled it well.Indira did have a very strong realist dimension, but that messianic idealism did creep in — this was evident in her speeches abroad, which would talk of peace, justice and the international order being against India. Nehru was more of an internationalist — he had travelled the world and had relations with countries that had gone through national movements of their own. Indira didn’t have that kind of background. Her interest beyond South Asia was strictly limited to what was required. It was very nationalist and focused largely on the subcontinent. The imperialist legacy also continued and it was important to her, that neighbours kept the ‘Indira doctrine’, refusing the entry of foreign powers into the area. She expected India to be accepted as a paramount power. India believes that the United States recognises us as a regional power and they consult us on Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka. Of course, we want them to consult us on Pakistan as well.

　　On Pakistan, you’ve shown how the Gujral doctrine which in destroying our intelligence assets and removing our eyes and ears, handicapped the Vajpayee administration, with the two biggest blots on his handling of Pakistan — Kargil and Kandahar —caught India napping. Do you think this government has been equally blind to the power that Pakistan’s army wields in inviting Nawaz Sharif to the Modi swearing in, and the impromptu visit to Lahore for Nawaz’ grand-daughters wedding without factoring in the blowback from the military-ISI that has led to the current standoff in Indo-Pak ties?Every PM believes that his legacy is to resolve the India-Pakistan conflict, which unfortunately for all of them, will not happen unless the underlying reasons are looked at carefully. The Pakistani establishment looks at India as an existential enemy, their rhetoric comprises largely of India’s supposed wish to reverse the Partition as they seek parity with us in every aspect.Vajpayee, like Nehru, believed that India will benefit from better relations with Pakistan and being the right of centre, Jan Sanghi politician he was, fancied himself to be just the man for the job. Modi inviting Nawaz Shariff to his swearing-in was a very Vajpayee move in that sense.