India, Jan. 25 -- In JLF we have India as a world leader, even world beater. It is one of the great success stories of our soft power. We must acknowledge and celebrate this.

Jaipur: I am here again, at the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF) 2020. Every single year for the last several years, I've made it a point to come. The festival itself is celebrating its 13th edition. Unluckily, you might wonder. Actually, as keynote speaker, Oxford mathematician and professor for the public understanding of science, Marcus du Sautoy, observed, "Thirteen is a prime number, indivisible. And the Jaipur Literature Festival is certainly in its prime." Certainly, in India we don't consider it unlucky.

As William Dalrymple never tires of reminding us, JL...