The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) hosted a Flagship Dialogue with Kishan S Rana on his new book, Churchill and India: Manipulation or Betrayal? on Tuesday, February 14, 2023 at 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm (IST).

This Dialogue featured a conversation between the author, Kishan S Rana, and Ramu Damodaran, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, CSEP.

A brilliant orator and a powerful leader, Winston Churchill’s failure to understand India and decolonization, and his manipulation of events on the subcontinent add a different dimension to the man. But how does postcolonial history view him? Rana studies the extraordinary connection Churchill had with India using archival sources.

Beginning with the early years of his career in India as a subaltern with the 4^th Hussars between 1896 and 1899, the book traces his rise as a politician, his years as the Prime Minister of Great Britain during the Second World War, his profound distrust of the Indian independence movement, and his machinations in preserving the British Empire’s rule over India. Churchill’s pervasive yet hidden shadow over the Indian subcontinent and his often-veiled role in the actions that led to Partition in 1947 are at the centre of this study. Rich in archival sources, this book provides a fresh and holistic perspective on the final phase of the British Empire, which continues to influence contemporary ties between India and the United Kingdom.

About the Author:

Kishan S Rana served in the Indian Foreign Service for over 35 years between 1960 and 1995. During his tenure, he was Ambassador/High Commissioner to Algeria, Czechoslovakia, Kenya, Mauritius, and Germany. He has also been posted as the Consul General in San Francisco. Rana is an Emeritus Fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi and Archives By-Fellow at Churchill College, Cambridge, United Kingdom. He has authored and edited books, including Diplomacy of the 21st Century (2011), The Contemporary Embassy (2013) and Diplomacy at the Cutting Edge (2016).

Discussant:

Ramu Damodaran is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at CSEP. He has worked at the United Nations for more than thirty years, most recently as Chief of Partnerships and Public Engagement in the United Nations Department of Global Communications until May 2021. He is a Member of the Leadership Council of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and a Senior Adviser to the University for Peace. He has taught and conducted courses on the United Nations at New York University in the United States, at Kyung-Hee University in the Republic of Korea and at Macquarie University in Australia.

Please contact nnayar@csep.org for general queries and twahengbam@csep.org for media inquiries.

All content reflects the individual views of the speakers. The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) does not hold an institutional view on any subject.