The return of cheetahs captured the public imagination, but few witnessed the diplomatic effort that made it possible. Ambassador Prashant Agrawal chronicles the extraordinary story behind this landmark conservation mission.

When we think of diplomacy, our mind instinctively thinks of summits, treaties,  nuclear deals, strategic partnerships, and defence cooperation within the grand theatre of international affairs.  Yet diplomacy unfolds in many ways, away from conference rooms. Sometimes it is about culture and heritage, and sometimes about bringing cheetahs to a nation that was once home to these big cats.  And diplomacy can even fly at 35,000 feet, carrying eight extraordinary passengers across continents.

Bringing the Cheetah Back to India: How Diplomacy Made Conservation’s Big Mission Possible by Prashant Agrawal, a career diplomat, takes readers on a real-time journey through one of India’s most ambitious conservation initiatives. Written from the perspective of the diplomat on the ground who steered the project at the Namibian end, the book unfolds with the immediacy of a first-hand account, capturing the anticipation and the diplomatic complexities involved in the historic arrival of cheetahs in India. More than a story about reintroducing cheetahs to one of their ancestral homes, it is an account of how diplomacy, conservation, and India’s commitment to restoring its natural heritage came together in one of the country’s most unusual international missions.