India Foundation, in collaboration with India Habitat Center held a book discussion on ‘Negotiating India’s Landmark Agreements’, written by Shri Avtar Singh Bhasin on 21st August 2025 at India Habitat Center. The panelists for the discussion were Dr Rajiv Ranjan, Associate Professor, Dept of East Asian Studies, Delhi University; Amb Veena Sikri, Former High Commissioner of India to Bangladesh and Amb Ashok K Kantha, Former Secretary (East). The session was moderated by Capt. Alok Bansal, Executive Vice President, India Foundation.
The author introduced the book to the audiences and mentioned that that book explores five pivotal agreements- India-China Agreement on Tibet (1954), the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation (1971), the Simla Agreement (1972), the India-Sri Lanka Accord (1987), and the India-United States Civil Nuclear Energy Agreement (2008) which have propound impact on India’s foreign policy. He emphasised that book also explores the impact of each of these treaties and reflects on the evolution of Indian diplomacy through these five agreements. He talked about the nature of these agreements, and how did India emerge after these agreements and the neighbourhood India inherited, along with India-US relations and India-USSR relations.
According to Dr Ranjan, the book has encouraged archival research amongst young scholars and also pointed out about how the book has reflected the evolution of the Indian Foreign Service to a professional force. He focuses on the new perspectives given by Mr Bhasin through the book. Amb Sikri called the book a service to the history of Indian diplomacy. She talked about how this work connects the dot and shows how India was attached to the policy of non-alignment on the Indo-Soviet Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation. She also described her experience when the Simla Agreement took place and talked about the details mentioned in the book about Simla Agreement and how that gives the impression that India as a winner was more desperate for talks than Pakistan and that the talks should have given a better deal to India as Pakistan got a better deal. Amb Kantha talked about the China Agreement on Tibet (1954), the Simla Agreement (1972), the India-Sri Lanka Accord (1987) and the lessons that have been derived from these agreements.
