Bollywood King Shah Rukh Khan launches Shashi Tharoor’s Pax Indica

Jumbo Editorial Team

Shah Rukh Khan, the undisputed King of Bollywood, launched politician Shashi Tharoor’s book ‘Pax Indica’ in Mumbai on August 4 in what turned out to be star-studded launch. Also present on the occasion were actors Anupam Kher and Rahul Bose besides writer Chetan Bhagat and adman Suhel Seth.

Tharoor, a former Minister of State for External Affairs, advocated for a separate exam for the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), saying NRIs should be allowed to appear for this exam and roped in as diplomats. 

“I would love to have a separate examination, which will also be open to NRIs, as they will be natural diplomats for us. Imagine an eligible kid who has grown up in Spain, France or any Arab country. Such a person would be a terrific asset to us,” Tharoor, an MP of Thiruvananthapuram from Kerala, reckoned adding that he had met many NRIs who had voiced their interest in joining India’s foreign services. 

“I wanted a catchy title for general readers. I didn’t mean world domination like Pax Romana or Britannica. What I meant was a peace system, a system of peaceful relations among countries with India playing a significant role, which is also congruent with its own domestic interests,” he explained the book’s title, loosely based on Latin terms such as Pax Romana and Pax Britannica which refer to periods of relative peace under Roman and British rule.

In Pax Indica, his 13th book, Tharoor has explored India’s relations with neighbouring countries, Europe, the Arab world and the USA and analysed its foreign policy.

Tharoor also put forward the theory of multi-alignment in the book. “That, instead of non-alignment, is perhaps more relevant to the present and the future,” he said. 

The Maharashtra Governor, K Sankaranarayanan, described the book as a very good analysis of foreign policy and a must-read for students and researchers. 

The panel discussion, also featuring Shah Rukh Khan, Anupam Kher, Rahul Bose, Anil Dharker and Chetan Bhagat, enlivened the proceedings.

The presence of Shah Rukh Khan in particular generated tremendous media interest. The Bollywood King, who has had a massive following in different parts of the world over the years, spoke in the regal style of his own.