Maharaja Krishna Rasgotra
Maharaja Krishna Rasgotra | |
---|---|
12th Foreign Secretary of India | |
In office 1 May 1982 – 31 January 1985 | |
Preceded by | R. D. Sathe |
Succeeded by | Romesh Bhandari |
Personal details | |
Born | September 11, 1924 |
Education | Punjab University (MA) |
Awards | Padma Bhushan |
Maharaja Krishna Rasgotra (born 11 September 1924), often shortened to M. K. Rasgotra, is an Indian diplomat and academic who served as the 12th
Early and personal life
Rasgotra was born 11 September 1924 in a Dogra-Brahmin family which hails originally from
At an early age, Rasgotra was married to Kadambari Devi in a match arranged by their families in the usual Indian way. Twelve years younger than her husband, Kadambari Devi was barely a teenager at the time of the wedding. The marriage proved entirely harmonious and conventional. The couple had two sons, but one of them died at the age of ten.[3] Kadambari Devi died in April 2018, aged 82, survived by her husband of seven decades, and by her son and his family. The family has lived in the upmarket Vasant Vihar suburb of New Delhi after Rasgotra's retirement from government service in the mid-1980s.[4]
In 2016, at the age of 92, M.K. Rasgotra published his autobiography, which was hailed by former foreign minister Natwar Singh as "one of the best autobiographies by any IFS officer since 1947."[5] In September 2020, it was noted that Rasgotra was still active and was one of the oldest living former Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers.[6]
Career
Early career
Rasgotra was tutor at
He was appointed to the
Bhopal disaster
He was the foreign secretary during the Bhopal disaster. It is claimed by the then-Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of the United States in New Delhi 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.[8] 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.[9]
Books
- A Life in Diplomacy, Viking, 2016; Penguin Books, 2019.
References
- ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
- ISBN 9780143447276.
- ^ Review of Rasgotra's autobiography
- ^ MK Rasgotra's wife passes away
- ^ Review of Rasgotra's autobiography
- ^ No nervous nineties for veteran diplomats
- ^ Information from www.outlookindia.com[permanent dead link]
- ^ Interview with NDTV
- ^ "Interview with M. K. Rasgotra", The Hindu, 18 June 2010, archived from the original on 21 June 2010