Chanakya Kautilya was a 300 BCE alumnus of the Takshashila (university) at Taxila. He is known for his epic Sanskrit exposition Arthashastra, an empire-running guidebook. In 1532, Niccolo Machiavelli authored his epic political treatise The Prince. Emanating from it, the term 'Machiavellian' remains synonymous with double-dealing, treachery and deceit.

Noted German philosopher and jurist Max Weber asserts in his famous essay 'Politics as a Vocation': "Truly radical Machiavellianism in the popular sense of that word is classically expressed in Indian literature in the Arthashastra of Kautilya; compared to it, Machiavelli's The Prince is harmless".

Written 1800 years before Machiavelli was born, Chanakya propagated the 'Raj Mandala' as a governing model. Based on collusion, spies, assassinations and destruction through misinformation, it also advocated the necessity of murdering family members to gain or retain power. One of Chanakya's favorite maxim was: "Your neighbor is your natural enemy and the neighbor's neighbor is your friend". Tellingly, Delhi's diplomatic enclave was named Chanakyapuri a few years after independence.

Since independence, Pakistan has borne the brunt of India's Chanakyan machinations. India still gloats about dismembering Pakistan. It has, apart from fomenting terrorism, also undertaken a spate of killings targeting Sikh and Kashmiri leaders here. Pakistan stood vindicated when Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian naval officer, was arrested in Balochistan and admitted to acts of terrorism.

Based on reports from the........

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