At 70, Sapru House is not just a milestone of brick and marble—it is the living monument of India’s intellectual assertion on the global stage. Tucked in a modest corner of Barakhamba Road in New Delhi, the red sandstone landmark with Makrana marble pillars and a stupa-like dome doesn’t demand attention. Yet for decades, it shaped the very mind of India’s foreign policy, laying the foundation for the country’s first think tanks, cultural diplomacy, and global engagement. To understand Sapru House is to understand how India, in the aftermath of colonial rule, sought to redefine itself not just politically or economically, but diplomatically and intellectually. When the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) was established in 1943, still under British rule, it was the first Indian platform to counter the colonial narrative and offer an indigenous view of global affairs. With the inauguration of Sapru House in 1955 as ICWA’s home, that ambition was cast in stone.
This was no ordinary building. It was envisioned as a sanctuary where foreign policy, diplomacy, academia, and culture converged. And the men who shaped its journey were among the finest minds of the new republic—Jawaharlal Nehru, V.K. Krishna Menon, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, and Prof. A. Appadorai. The building itself was named after Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, a moderate constitutionalist, jurist, and statesman known for his pivotal role in the Round Table Conferences and his commitment to liberal values. By invoking his name, the Indian leadership signalled that its foreign policy would be driven by reasoned dialogue, internationalism, and justice. Sapru symbolised the voice of legal moderation and moral balance that Nehruvian diplomacy wished to echo.
But the real architect of Sapru House as a foreign policy nerve centre was V.K. Krishna Menon, India’s first High Commissioner to the UK and later Defence Minister. More than a diplomat, Menon was a force of intellect, firebrand idealism, and rhetorical brilliance. He believed that diplomacy must not be reactive but assertive, guided by deeply rooted civilizational thinking. He saw ICWA and Sapru House as platforms not for imitation but for innovation—a place where India could assert its worldview independent of Western frameworks. When Sapru House opened its doors, it did so with a broad mandate—to study international affairs, cultivate strategic thought, and host cultural dialogue. It instantly became the first real think tank in India, long before the term became fashionable. And from that soil, many great institutions emerged. The Indian School of International Studies—India’s earliest academic institute dedicated to foreign affairs—was born here before merging with Jawaharlal Nehru University. So too was the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), now India’s most respected centre for security and strategic studies. In many ways, Sapru House didn’t just speak policy—it created policy institutions.
The original building was funded through a national fundraising campaign in 1949, with ₹10 lakh as the target. Maharaja Yeshwant Rao Holkar of Indore donated ₹1.5 lakh. President Rajendra Prasad and Prime Minister Nehru gave their entire monthly salaries—₹1,000 and ₹500, respectively. It was a national commitment to diplomacy as a serious intellectual pursuit. Behind its emergence as a centre of thought was also Prof. A. Appadorai, ICWA’s first Secretary-General. A pioneering academic and an ardent supporter of internationalism, Appadorai helped transform ICWA into a world-class research and documentation body. His work in creating a robust framework for foreign policy scholarship inspired generations of Indian diplomats and scholars.
The golden age of Sapru House was in the 1950s to 70s. This was when Nehru’s non-alignment policy found intellectual scaffolding in its halls. The building hosted the historic Asian Relations Conference in 1947, one of the earliest platforms to imagine post-colonial Asian solidarity. Ideas like South-South Cooperation, disarmament, anti-colonialism, and economic non-alignment were passionately debated here. Culturally, Sapru House was a beacon as well. It stood shoulder to shoulder with the Ashoka Theatre and AIFACS as Delhi’s top performance venues. To be featured at Sapru House was a marker of prestige, said Kathak maestro Shovana Narayan. It was a time when foreign policy and cultural diplomacy walked hand in hand.
As the decades wore on, particularly during the 1980s and 90s, the institution experienced a dip in its intellectual energy. Former diplomat T.C.A. Raghavan and scholar Vivek Mishra, in their book Sapru House: A Story of Institution-Building in World Affairs, lamented the decline in both the quality of research and the frequency of serious policy engagements during that period. But revival came in the form of the ICWA Act, 2001, passed by Parliament, granting it the status of an “institute of national importance.” This recognition re-energised Sapru House. The mandate was now clearly defined: to conduct scholarly research, promote public understanding of world affairs, and collaborate globally. Today, it partners with over 100 global think tanks and universities, hosting dialogues, joint research, and policy briefings.
The real gem inside Sapru House, however, remains its library. A hidden treasure trove, it houses over 100,000 books and journals, many of them rare. From Engelbertus Kampfer’s “History of Japan” (1727) to James Baillie Fraser’s “The Himalaya Mountains” (1820), the collection spans centuries of world affairs. Students, researchers, diplomats, and journalists find in its shelves the living memory of India’s foreign policy journey—from anti-apartheid stances to NAM declarations to India’s early engagement with the UN. The guest list over the years is equally impressive. Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh was felicitated here in 1958. Margaret Thatcher, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and Chinese President Xi Jinping have all spoken at Sapru House, recognising it as a venue of serious global conversation. But beyond the legacy and nostalgia, Sapru House matters even more today. As India finds itself increasingly central to global geopolitics, the need for a serious, rooted, and independent foreign policy discourse has never been greater. Sapru House reminds us that diplomacy is not just protocol—it is scholarship, debate, culture, and conviction.
At 70, Sapru House stands resilient, not as a relic of postcolonial idealism but as a reminder that ideas shape nations. Its walls may have aged, but its spirit remains young, relevant, and visionary. Krishna Menon once argued that foreign policy must flow from a nation’s soul, not its fears. Sapru House, over the decades, has nurtured that soul. And as India navigates the turbulent waters of a multipolar world, it will need this lighthouse of ideas more than ever.
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