Accidental India: How the Shadow of Crisis Has Shaped a Nation

In just six decades, India has gone from geopolitical backwater to emerging global power. Drawing on his new book, Accidental India: A History of the Nation’s Passage through Crisis and Change, Shankkar Aiyar argued that the nation’s ascent was not the work of foresight or careful planning, but rather the serendipitous consequence of major crises that had to be resolved at any cost. Aiyar for discussed the seven “game-changer” historical accidents that have shaped the ascent of the world’s largest democracy. Carnegie’s Milan Vaishnav moderated.