The value of this collection is that it provides an Indian perspective on the Afghan crisis. India's interest, says one author, is to prevent a reversal of the process of normalization in South Asia which he traces to the Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan in 1972. At the same time, India does not want the Afghan crisis to hinder India's efforts to normalize relations with China, to maintain close ties to the Soviet Union, and to slowly improve relations with the leading Western powers.