This week we kick off the eighth season of Grand Tamasha with a very special guest. On the season premiere, Milan sits down with Ambassador Shyam Saran, former Indian foreign secretary and one of the most decorated Indian diplomats of his generation. Saran, currently a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi, is the author of a new book, How China Sees India and the World. This new volume is a companion to his highly acclaimed 2018 book, How India Sees the World.

Milan speaks with Shyam Saran about his lengthy career studying China and learning Mandarin, India’s relative ignorance of Chinese politics and society, and the sources of China’s unique model of social order. Plus, the two discuss the current border standoff between India and China and the prospects of a China-centric world.

1. Shyam Saran, “Signs of Twin Troubles in China,” Business Standard, August 17, 2022.
2. Shyam Saran, “Why India@75 Must Pay Attention to Fault Lines,” Mint, August 15, 2022.
3. “India’s Future in a Changing Global Order (with Shivshankar Menon),” Grand Tamasha, February 2, 2022.