Late night on Saturday, 10th August, former diplomat turned politician who rose to the ranks of Minister of External Affairs, Natwar Singh breathed his last. A 1953-batch IFS officer, Singh landed up the top job at Raisina Hills in Manmohan Singh’s first UPA government for a short duration. A career marked by many twists and controversies, his death was mourned by top politicians and diplomats in the country.
All you need to know about Natwar Singh:
Born in the princely state of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, in an aristocratic family, Singh did his schooling from the Mayo College in Ajmer and Scindia School in Gwalior. An undergrad from St. Stephen’s College, he later also studied at Cambridge University. He was married to Heminder Kaur, who belongs to the royal family of Patiala, and is the sister of Capt. Amarinder Singh.
Singh had an illustrious career as a diplomat in the Indian Foreign Service. He joined in 1953 and served in Beijing, New York (at the Permanent Mission of India from 1961–66 and as India’s representative to UNICEF), while also working in various UN committees and international delegates. He was then posted to PM Indira Gandhi’s Secretariat. Later he headed the diplomatic mission as ambassador to Poland (1971-73), deputy High Commissioner to UK (1973-77), and even as ambassador to Pakistan (1980-82). In 1983, he was made Secretary-General of the 7th Non-aligned Summit in Delhi and Chief Coordinator of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Between 1982-84, he served as Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs
In 1984, he was bestowed with India’s third highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan. However, in the same year, he surprisingly resigned and joined the Indian National Congress, winning from Bharatpur in the 8th Lok Sabha. In 1985, he became a Minister of State for steel, coal and mines, and agriculture and even became MoS for external affairs a year later. In that capacity, he was elected President of the UN Conference on Disarmament and Development (1987) and led the Indian delegation to the 42nd Session of the General Assembly. For a few years after this he developed differences with the Congress and along with N.D. Tiwari and Arjun Singh, formed a new political party, All India Indira Congress. But he later returned to the grand old party and after nine years, also regained his Bharatpur constituency in 1998.
Natwar Singh’s big break came in 2004 when he was appointed External Affairs minister by Manmohan Singh in 2004. However, his tenure was short-lived.
In October 2005, the Independent Inquiry Committee, led by Paul Volcker, published a report on its investigation into corruption in the Oil-for-Food program. The report mentioned that the Congress party and Natwar Singh’s family were among the corrupt beneficiaries of the program. Anil Mathrani, Indian Ambassador to Croatia and a close aide to Singh, claimed that the minister had used an official visit to Iraq to obtain oil coupons for his son, Jagat Singh, from Saddam’s regime. The following year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) also testified these claims. As a result, he was suspended by the Congress in 2006.
Two year later, Natwar Singh announced his decision to quit the Congress party and launched an attack on Sonia Gandhi for not supporting him and pleaded innocence in the case. Later he and his son joined Bahujan Samaj Party, only to be expelled within four months for alleged indiscipline and “lack of faith” in the ideology of the party. His son is now in the BJP.
A man always known to speak his mind and wore many hats in his long life, Singh was also a prolific writer and published many books on Nehruvian legacy, Indian maharajas, foreign policy, and more. However, his most famous and controversial book is his autobiography, ‘One Life is Not Enough’ released in 2014.
Reactions on Natwar Singh’s death:
As per news reports, a nonagenarian Natwar Singh had been admitted in Medanta Hospital in Gurugram for couple of weeks due to prolonged illness. His son was present with him and other friends and family members are also expected to visit.
Messages of condolences and grief in the political and diplomatic world followed, led by the President of India herself. Prime Minister Modi, took to his official X account and also expressed condolences while praising Natwar Singh’s rich contributions to the world of diplomacy and foreign policy. S Jaishankar, current MEA, acknowledged Singh’s contributions, including the vital role played by him in the July 2005 India – US nuclear deal and appreciated his writings. Meanwhile, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, also expressed condolences.
