China shouldn’t view us through US lens. That would be a great disservice, says S Jaishankar

Despite his hectic schedule, external affairs minister S Jaishankar put long flights and airport layovers to good use to finish his book, The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World. In an interview to Indrani Bagchi, he talks about India’s role in a changing world.

It is good to see a serving minister write a book. Why did you write it?

This book has been more than two and a half years in the making. My purpose is obviously to shape the foreign policy debate in the country. And to underline the rapid pace at which our world is changing. India matters more in such a world and it is important for us to understand that. So, our views, commitments and expectations must be clearly articulated.

What is this change? Why is it important and how does it matter to Indians now?

There are five key developments underway. The rise of China, the repositioning of America, the rebalancing of the world including India’s role in it, the relevance of rules, and the changing metrics of power. All of them need to be analysed and understood. We can’t simply continue on the basis of past experience. Foreign policy is too serious to be run on just mantras and muscle memory.

What do you mean by changing metrics of power?

When I started out in diplomacy, in Moscow actually, we gave primacy to military capability and its derived political influence. The end of the Cold W