The Unfinished Quest

In The Unfinished Quest, T.V. Paul charts India''s checkered path toward higher regional and global status, and sheds important light on its significance as the "swing power" that can mitigate China''s aggressive rise in the Indo-Pacific region. In 2022, India surpassed the United Kingdom, its former colonial ruler, as the fifth largest economy in the world. Since the 1990s, a series of US presidents and secretaries of state have all acclaimed India as a rising major power that deserves to be recognized as a lead actor in the international arena. All five permanent members of the UN Security Council except China have openly acknowledged the need to include India among their ranks. But even now, India has not attained the status of a globally recognized great power. In The Unfinished Quest, leading international relations and South Asia scholar T.V. Paul charts India''s checkered path toward higher regional and global status, covering both the successes and failures it has experienced s