'Nehru's First Recruits' traces how India's early diplomats shaped policy

Kallol Bhattacherjee attempts to do that by exploring how Indian diplomats were recruited in the 10 or so years after Independence in 1947

Nehru’s First Recruits: The Diplomats who built Independent India’s Foreign Policy

Author: Kallol Bhattacherjee

Publisher: HarperCollins India

Pages: 368

Price: Rs 699

  Many diplomats have written books about their days in the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), some autobiographical, some region-specific, deriving knowledge and experience from their postings. But apart from former National Security Advisor and Foreign Secretary J N Dixit’s analytical description of the evolution of the Indian Foreign Service based on archival material as well as personal experiences, there are few books on the early entrants to the IFS, who put in place traditions, protocols and the basic principles of Indian foreign policy.