A. P. Venkateswaran

Ayilam Panchapakesha Venkateswaran (2 August 1930 – 2 September 2014) was an Indian diplomat, former Foreign Secretary of India[2] and former Chairman of Asia Centre, Bangalore,[3] rated by many as one of the most efficient foreign secretaries of India.[4] The circumstances in which he resigned from the Indian Foreign Service made news at that time[5] and drew widespread comments in the media.[6][7][8][9][10]

A. P. Venkateswaran
Born2 August 1930
Brahmapur, Odisha, British India
Died2 September 2014(2014-09-02) (aged 84)
Bangalore, India
Resting placeWilson Garden Cremtorium, Bangalore[1]
OccupationDiplomat
SpouseUsha
ChildrenKalpana
Parent(s)A. S. Panchapakesa Ayyar
Vedanayaki Ammal
AwardsFellowship – Harvard University

Life sketch

The summary removal of the Foreign Secretary, A. P. Venkateswaran, in the shabbiest manner imaginable, has...., wrote Inder Malhotra in The Times of India, sent shock waves through the entire edifice of the government, shattered the morale of the bureaucracy and aroused the gravest misgivings about the future patterns of the government in New Delhi[6][11]

A. P. Venkateswaran comes from a Tamil Brahmin family with roots in a small Palakkadu hamlet of Ayilam, in the south Indian state of Kerala. His father, A. S. Panchapakesa Ayyar was a former Madras High Court judge[1] turned civil servant and Venkateswaran was born at Brahmapur, while his father was staying in Odisha with his mother, Vedanayaki Ammal.[1] Venkateswaran was good at studies and he secured three post graduate degrees in Science, Economics, and Political Science from the Madras Christian College[12] before joining Indian Foreign Service on 2 April 1952, at the age of 22.[1][13] After joining the service, Venkateswaran continued his studies at Oxford on International Law (1952–53) and at the UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, London (1953–54).[14]

Venkateswaran was married to Usha and the couple had a daughter, Kalpana, who is settled in the US. He died on 3 September 2014, at Bangalore, succumbing to a cardiac arrest.[2][15] His mortal remains were cremated at Wilson Garden Crematorium in the city.[1]

Venkateswaran was a Fellow of the Center for Industrial Affairs at Harvard University from 1974 to 1975.[14] He has also written several articles on international politics in journals and magazines.[16]

Controversy
Rajiv Gandhi (1987)

One year after he assumed office as the Foreign Secretary of India, Venkateswaran made a public statement that the Indian Peace Keeping Force operations in Sri Lanka was a mistake, a statement which appeared to have irked Rajiv Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India. Weeks later, when asked by a Pakistani journalist about the impending Pakistan visit for the SAARC summit, announced earlier by Venkateswaran, Rajiv Gandhi replied with the now famous words,[5]

Soon, you will be talking to a new foreign secretary

The declaration generated much publicity and had no precedence where the termination of service of a Class I civil services officer being announced at a press conference.[6] Venkateswaran, present at the press conference,[4] sent the letter of his resignation to the Prime Minister's office immediately.[1] The incident attracted worldwide media interest.[5][7][17][18] Years later, Venkateswaran commented that the decision to send IPKF to Sri Lanka was a mistake which finally led to the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi.[19]

Positions

Venkateswaran has served in the Indian foreign offices across the globe, except in South American continent,[1] and was the Indian Ambassador in the US, China and Syria.[1] After his Embassy stints, he served as the Indian representative in the United Nations before returning to India, in 1986, when he was made the Foreign Secretary of India, the highest job in the Indian Foreign Service, during Rajiv Gandhi's term as the Prime Minister of India.[1]

Career sketch[13][14]

The table's caption
Office Position Tenure
Embassy in Prague Officer 1955–1957
New York Consulate Consul 1957–1959
Embassy – Addis Ababa Secretary of Legation – First Class 1959–1962
Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi Deputy Secretary 1962–1964
Embassy – Moscow Secretary of Legation – First Class 1964–1967
Consulate – Bonn Consul 1967–1969
Indian High Commission – Fiji High Commissioner 1969–1971
Center for Industrial Affairs – Harvard University Fellow 1974–1975
Embassy – Washington DC Ambassador (correction: Venkateshwaran was only chargé d'affaires (acting ambassador) in Washington) 1975–1976
Embassy – Damascus Ambassador 1976–1977
United Nations Representative 1980–1982
Embassy – Beijing Ambassador 1982–1986
Government of India Foreign Secretary 1986–1987

Venkateswaran resigned from Indian Government service in 1987 after which he founded Asia Centre Bangalore, a think tank of diplomats and intellectuals, based in Bangalore.

See also

References
  1. "Manorama Online". Manorama Online. 4 September 2014. Archived from the original (web article) on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  2. "Former Foreign Secretary A P Venkateswaran passes away". United News of India. 4 September 2014. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  3. "Asia Centre". website. Asia Centre. 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  4. "Former foreign secretary Venkateswaran cremated in Bangalore". The New Indian Express. 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  5. Express News Service (29 September 2013). "History repeats itself, says former foreign secy". Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  6. S. R. Maheswari (1 January 2001). Indian Administration. Orient Blackswan. p. 237 of 666 pages. ISBN 978-8125019886.
  7. Steven R Weisman (8 February 1987). "Gandhi Actions Stir Strong Criticism". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  8. Archis Mohan (26 May 2010). "Manmohan waltzes where many predecessors slipped". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 28 May 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  9. "Foreign Seretary Quits aAfter Gandhi Embarrasses Him in Public [sic]". Associated Press. 20 January 1987. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  10. Jayanta Bandyopadhyaya (2003). The Making of India's Foreign Policy. Allied Publishers. p. 270 of 310 pages. ISBN 9788177644029.
  11. Inder Malhotra (22 January 1987). "Political Commentary: Bashing the Bureaucracy". The Times of India.
  12. "Madras Christian College – Some Outstanding Alumni of the College". website. Madras Christian College. 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  13. "Profile". Jagaranrosh.com. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  14. A. P. Venkateswaran, Retrieved 4 September 2014
  15. "Former Foreign Secretary A P Venkateswaran's body cremated". The Economic Times. 3 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  16. Raju G. C. Thomas (7 May 1999). "NATO and International Law". Sarantakos.com. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  17. "Associated Press". Associated Press. 20 January 1987. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  18. "An avoidable blunder". India Today. 15 February 1987. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  19. P. C. Vinoj Kumar (4 November 2006). "I am not sure if Prabhakaran ordered Rajiv's assassination". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
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