Manikmusicscapgk at 05:30, 25 November 2025

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{{Short description|Indian diplomat}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox office holder
| name = A. P. Venkateswaran
| office = [[ Foreign Secretary of India ]]
| term = 1 April 1986 - 20 January 1987
| predecessor = [[ Romesh Bhandari ]]
| successor = K P S Menon Jr.
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = 2 June 1930
| birth_place = [[Brahmapur, Odisha]], British India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2014|9|2|1930|8|2}}
| death_place = Bangalore, [[India]]
| restingplace = Wilson Garden Crematorium, Bangalore<ref name="Manorama Online" />
| restingplacecoordinates =
| othername =
| occupation = Diplomat
| yearsactive =
| spouse = Usha
| children = Kalpana
| parents = [[A. S. Panchapakesa Ayyar]]<br>Vedanayaki Ammal
| website = 
| awards = Fellowship – [[Harvard University]]
}}
'''Ayilam Panchapakesha Venkateswaran''' (2 August 1930 – 2 September 2014) was an Indian diplomat, former [[Foreign Secretary (India)|Foreign Secretary of India]]<ref name="Former Foreign Secretary A P Venkateswaran passes away">{{cite news | url=http://uniindia.net/eng/displaytopstory.php?sid=MS%2046&ngsystemtask=3325weare24olym54hrt56u6755uwere21stories03 | title=Former Foreign Secretary A P Venkateswaran passes away | publisher=United News of India | date=4 September 2014 | accessdate=4 September 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904194916/http://uniindia.net/eng/displaytopstory.php?sid=MS%2046&ngsystemtask=3325weare24olym54hrt56u6755uwere21stories03 | archive-date=4 September 2014 | url-status=dead}}</ref> and former chairman of Asia Centre, [[Bangalore]],<ref name="Asia Centre">{{cite web | url=http://www.whatisindia.com/asiacentre/asiacentre.html | title=Asia Centre | publisher=Asia Centre | work=website | date=2014 | accessdate=4 September 2014}}</ref> rated by many as one of the most efficient foreign secretaries of India.<ref name="Former foreign secretary Venkateswaran cremated in Bangalore" /> The circumstances in which he resigned from the [[Indian Foreign Service]] made news at that time<ref name="History repeats itself, says former foreign secy">{{cite news | url=http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/history-repeats-itself-says-former-foreign-secy/1175758/ | title=History repeats itself, says former foreign secy | date=29 September 2013 | accessdate=4 September 2014 | author=Express News Service}}</ref> and drew widespread comments in the media.<ref name="Indian Administration">{{cite book | title=Indian Administration | publisher=Orient Blackswan | author=S. R. Maheswari | date=1 January 2001 | page=237 of 666 pages | isbn=978-8125019886}}</ref><ref name="Gandhi Actions Stir Strong Criticism">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/08/world/gandhi-actions-stir-strong-criticism.html | title=Gandhi Actions Stir Strong Criticism | work=The New York Times| date=8 February 1987 | accessdate=4 September 2014 | author=Steven R Weisman}}</ref><ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news|author=Archis Mohan | url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100526/jsp/nation/story_12488958.jsp | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528034400/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100526/jsp/nation/story_12488958.jsp | url-status=dead | archive-date=28 May 2010 | title=Manmohan waltzes where many predecessors slipped | work=The Telegraph| date=26 May 2010 | accessdate=4 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="Associated_Press1">{{cite news | url=https://apnews.com/b04990d06a6b53e1e2cd9c9625c01a0f | title=Foreign Seretary Quits aAfter Gandhi Embarrasses Him in Public <nowiki>[sic]</nowiki> | publisher=Associated Press | date=20 January 1987 | accessdate=4 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="The Making of India's Foreign Policy">{{cite book | url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1040461 | title=The Making of India's Foreign Policy | publisher=Allied Publishers | author=Jayanta Bandyopadhyaya | year=2003 | page=270 of 310 pages | isbn=9788177644029}}</ref>

==Life sketch==
{{quotebox|align = right|qalign = center|width=21em|''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''<ref name="Indian Administration" /><ref name="Political Commentary: Bashing the Bureaucracy">{{cite journal | title=Political Commentary: Bashing the Bureaucracy | author=Inder Malhotra | journal=The Times of India | date= 22 January 1987}}</ref>}}

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<ref name="Manorama Online" /> turned civil servant and Venkateswaran was born at [[Brahmapur, Odisha|Brahmapur]], while his father was staying in [[Odisha]] with his mother, Vedanayaki Ammal.<ref name="Manorama Online">{{cite web | url=http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/malayalamContentView.do?contentId=17502121&programId=1073753763&channelId=-1073751706&BV_ID=@@@&tabId=11 | title=Manorama Online | publisher=Manorama Online | format=web article | date=4 September 2014 | accessdate=4 September 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904202704/http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/malayalamContentView.do?contentId=17502121&programId=1073753763&channelId=-1073751706&BV_ID=@@@&tabId=11 | archive-date=4 September 2014 | url-status=dead }}</ref> Venkateswaran was good at studies and he secured three post graduate degrees in Science, Economics, and Political Science from the [[Madras Christian College]]<ref name="Madras Christian College - Some Outstanding Alumni of the College">{{cite web | url=http://www.mcc.edu.in/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=340&Itemid=237 | title=Madras Christian College – Some Outstanding Alumni of the College | publisher=Madras Christian College | work=website | date=2014 | accessdate=4 September 2014}}</ref> before joining [[Indian Foreign Service]] on 2 April 1952, at the age of 22.<ref name="Manorama Online" /><ref name="Profile">{{cite web | url=http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/former-foreign-secretary-ap-venkateswaran-died-1409730805-1 | title=Profile | publisher=Jagaranrosh.com | date=3 September 2014 | accessdate=4 September 2014}}</ref> 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).<ref name="A._P._Venkateswaran">[[:de:A|A. P. Venkateswaran]], Retrieved 4 September 2014{{circular reference|date=September 2014}}</ref>

Venkateswaran was married to Usha and the couple had a daughter, Kalpana, who is settled in the US. He died on 2 September 2014, at Bangalore, succumbing to a cardiac arrest.<ref name="Former Foreign Secretary A P Venkateswaran passes away" /><ref name="Former Foreign Secretary A P Venkateswaran's body cremated ">{{cite news | url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/former-foreign-secretary-a-p-venkateswarans-body-cremated/articleshow/41616197.cms | title=Former Foreign Secretary A P Venkateswaran's body cremated | work=The Economic Times| date=3 September 2014 | accessdate=4 September 2014}}</ref> His mortal remains were cremated at Wilson Garden Crematorium in the city.<ref name="Manorama Online" />

Venkateswaran was a Fellow of the ''Center for Industrial Affairs'' at [[Harvard University]] from 1974 to 1975.<ref name="A._P._Venkateswaran" /> He has also written several articles on international politics in journals and magazines.<ref name="Articles">{{cite web | url=http://www.sarantakos.com/kosovo/ks18law.html | title=NATO and International Law | publisher=Sarantakos.com | date=7 May 1999 | accessdate=4 September 2014 | author=Raju G. C. Thomas}}</ref>

==Controversy==
[[File:Rajiv Gandhi (1987).jpg|thumb|240px|[[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,<ref name="History repeats itself, says former foreign secy" /> <blockquote>''Soon, you will be talking to a new foreign secretary''</blockquote>

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.<ref name="Indian Administration" /> Venkateswaran, present at the press conference,<ref name="Former foreign secretary Venkateswaran cremated in Bangalore">{{cite news | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19870215-rajiv-gandhis-most-insensitive-blunder-ap-venkateswaran-removal-as-foreign-secretary-798506-1987-02-14 | title=Former foreign secretary Venkateswaran cremated in Bangalore | publisher=The New Indian Express | date=4 September 2014 | access-date=4 September 2014}}</ref> sent the letter of his resignation to the Prime Minister's office immediately.<ref name="Manorama Online" /> The incident attracted worldwide media interest.<ref name="History repeats itself, says former foreign secy" /><ref name="Gandhi Actions Stir Strong Criticism" /><ref name="Associated Press">{{cite web | url=https://apnews.com/b04990d06a6b53e1e2cd9c9625c01a0f | title=Associated Press | publisher=Associated Press | date=20 January 1987 | accessdate=4 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="An avoidable blunder">{{cite news | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/cover-story/story/19870215-rajiv-gandhis-most-insensitive-blunder-ap-venkateswaran-removal-as-foreign-secretary-798506-1987-02-14 | title=An avoidable blunder | publisher=India Today | date=15 February 1987 | access-date=4 September 2014}}</ref> 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]].<ref name="I am not sure if Prabhakaran ordered Rajiv’s assassination">{{cite web | url=http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main21.asp?filename=Ne110406_I_am.asp | title=I am not sure if Prabhakaran ordered Rajiv's assassination | publisher=Tehelka | date=4 November 2006 | accessdate=4 September 2014 | author=P. C. Vinoj Kumar | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140904200724/http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main21.asp?filename=Ne110406_I_am.asp | archivedate=4 September 2014}}</ref>

==Positions==
Venkateswaran has served in the Indian foreign offices across the globe, except in South American continent,<ref name="Manorama Online" /> and was the Indian Ambassador in the [[Ambassador of India to United States of America|US]], China and Syria.<ref name="Manorama Online" /> 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 (India)|Foreign Secretary of India]], the highest job in the [[Indian Foreign Service]], during [[Rajiv Gandhi]]'s term as the [[Prime Minister of India|prime minister of India]].<ref name="Manorama Online" />

'''Career sketch'''<ref name="Profile" /><ref name="A._P._Venkateswaran" />

{| border="1" class="wikitable"
! 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 (India)|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)
| 1975–1977
|-
! Embassy – [[Damascus]]
| Ambassador
| 1977–1980
|-
! 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 [https://asiacentrebangalore.org/ Asia Centre Bangalore, ''a think tank of diplomats and intellectuals, based in Bangalore.''

==See also==
* [[Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi]]
* [[Indian Peace Keeping Force]]

{{portal|India}}

==References==
{{Reflist|colwidth=50em}}

==External links==
* {{cite web | url=http://www.sangam.org/Analysis.htm | title=List of Articles on India – Sri Lanka relationship | publisher=Sangam.org | accessdate=4 September 2014}}
* {{cite book | url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1040461 | title=The Making of India's Foreign Policy | publisher=Allied Publishers | author=Jayanta Bandyopadhyay | author-link=Jayanta Bandyopadhyay | year=2003 | page=270 of 310 pages | isbn=9788177644029}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-dip}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Romesh Bhandari]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Foreign Secretary of India]]|years=1986 - 1987}}
{{s-aft|after=[[K. P. S. Menon Jr.]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venkateswaran, A. P.}}
[[Category:1930 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:Malayali people]]
[[Category:People from Odisha]]
[[Category:Indian diplomats]]
[[Category:Malayali Brahmins]]
[[Category:Foreign secretaries of India]]
[[category:Ambassadors of India to Syria]]
[[category:Ambassadors of India to China]]
[[category:Ambassadors of India to the United States]]
[[category:High commissioners of India to Fiji]]
[[Category:Permanent representatives of India to the United Nations]]

A. P. Venkateswaran - Revision history

Manikmusicscapgk at 05:30, 25 November 2025