Maharaja Krishna Rasgotra (born 11 September 1924), often shortened to M. K. Rasgotra, is an Indian diplomat and academic who served as the 12th Foreign Secretary of India from 1 May 1982 to 31 January 1985.

Early life

He was born 11 September 1924 in a Dogra-Brahmin family from Shakargarh, Jammu and Kashmir. He was the second son out of three sons and two daughters. He received a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree in English from Punjab University.

Career

Early career

Rasgotra was tutor at

Government College, Lahore The Government College University, Lahore (colloquially known as GCU), is a public research university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Opened as Government College, Lahore, in 1864, it became a university in 2002. Overview In 1864, Go ...

from 1944 to 1946, head of the English department at SA College for Women,

Sialkot Sialkot ( ur, ) is a city located in Punjab, Pakistan. It is the capital of Sialkot District and the 13th most populous city in Pakistan. The boundaries of Sialkot are joined with Jammu (the winter capital of Indian administered Jammu and Ka ...

in 1946, and head of the English department at Arya College,

Ludhiana Ludhiana ( ) is the most populous and the largest city in the Indian state of Punjab. The city has an estimated population of 1,618,879 2011 census and distributed over , making Ludhiana the most densely populated urban centre in the state. I ...

in 1947. He was appointed to the Punjab Educational Service in March 1948 and also worked as a lecturer in English at the Satish Chander Dhawan Government College in 1948 and 1949. He was appointed to the

Indian Foreign Service The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is the diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is the 34th and the ...

on 27 September 1949. Later in his career, he was

High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom The High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom is the head of the High Commission of India to the United Kingdom. The High Commission is located at India House in London. History In 1919, a committee chaired by the Marquess of Crewe det ...

and Ambassador to Morocco, Tunisia, the Netherlands, Nepal, France, and

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

Bhopal disaster

He was the foreign secretary during the

Bhopal disaster The Bhopal disaster, also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy, was a chemical accident on the night of 2–3 December 1984 at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Considered the world's ...

. It is claimed by the then-Deputy Chief of Mission of the

Embassy of the United States in New Delhi The Embassy of the United States of America in New Delhi is the diplomatic mission of the United States of America in the Republic of India. The Embassy is headed by the U.S. Ambassador to India. The embassy complex is situated on a 28-acre pl ...

in 1984, in an interview with a news channel, that communications between the government of India and himself relating to the release of Warren Anderson went through the Foreign Secretary. In a subsequent interview with Karan Thapar, Rasgotra held that releasing Warren Anderson was the right thing to do, since he had been earlier promised safe passage.

Later life

In September 2020, it was noted that Rasgotra was still active and was one of the oldest living former

(IFS) officers.No nervous nineties for veteran diplomats
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Books

* A Life in Diplomacy, Viking, 2016; Penguin Books, 2019.

References

1924 births Living people Indian Foreign Secretaries Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in civil service High Commissioners of India to the United Kingdom Ambassadors of India to Nepal Ambassadors of India to Morocco Ambassadors of India to Tunisia Ambassadors of India to France Ambassadors of India to the Netherlands {{India-diplomat-stub