RockyHerz477 at 09:38, 31 August 2025

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{{Short description|Indian politician and diplomat (1918-1975)}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[Ambassador]]
| name = Durga Prasad Dhar
| honorific-suffix =
| image =
| imagesize =
| smallimage =
| caption =
| order = Ambassador to the Soviet Union
| office =
| occupation = Diplomat, Ambassador of India to Soviet Union
| term_start = 1969
| term_end = 1971
| alongside = 
| vicepresident =
| president =
| primeminister =
| succeeding = 
| predecessor = [[Kewal Singh]]
| successor = K.S. Shelvankar
| order2 = Ambassador of India to Soviet Union
| office2 =
| term_start2 = 1975
| term_end2 = 1975
| predecessor2 = K.S. Shelvankar
| successor2 = [[Inder Kumar Gujral]]
| birth_name = Durga Prasad Dhar
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1918|05|10}}
| birth_place = [[Srinagar]], [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], [[British India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1975|06|12|1918|05|10}}
| death_place =
| birthname =
| nationality = [[Indian People|Indian]]
| party =
| spouse =
| partner = 
| relations =
| children = Vijay Dhar
| residence =
| education = [[Tyndale Biscoe School]]
| alma_mater = [[University of the Punjab|Punjab University]] <br /> [[University of Lucknow|Lucknow University]]
| cabinet =
| committees =
| portfolio =
| religion =
| signature =
| signature_alt =
| website =
| footnotes =
| nickname =
| allegiance =
| serviceyears =
| rank =
| awards =
}}

'''Durga Prasad Dhar''', commonly known as '''D. P. Dhar''' (1918–1975), was an Indian politician and diplomat who is considered as the chief architect of the [[Bangladesh Liberation War#Indian involvement|Indian intervention]] in the 1971 [[Bangladesh Liberation War]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Events of 23 June 1975 |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913198,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206124415/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913198,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=6 December 2008 |work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=23 June 1975 |accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref> Dhar was a close adviser and confidant of [[Indira Gandhi]]. He served as the [[Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union]], and as a minister in the [[Government of Jammu and Kashmir]] as well as the [[Government of India]].

==Early life and education==
Dhar was born on May 10, 1918, in [[Srinagar]] in the [[princely state]] of [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]] in [[British India]] into a [[Kashmiri Pandit]] family. He studied at the [[Tyndale Biscoe School]] in Sheikh Bagh.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hyderi|first=M.|date=14 March 2015|title=Schooling excellence, Biscoe since 1880|url=https://www.greaterkashmir.com/more/schooling-excellence-biscoe-since-1880|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-29|website=Greater Kashmir|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229132112/https://www.greaterkashmir.com/more/schooling-excellence-biscoe-since-1880 |archive-date=29 December 2021 }}</ref> He earned his bachelor's degree from the [[University of the Punjab]] in [[Lahore]] and went on to complete his LLB from the [[University of Lucknow]].<ref name=LA>{{cite web |title=Proceedings of the Emergent session of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly |url=http://www.megassembly.gov.in/proceedings/1975/28-07-1975.htm |first=W.A. Sangma |last=Chief Minister |publisher=Meghalaya Legislative Assembly |location=Shillong |date=28 July 1975 |accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref>

==Career==

===Political===
Dhar joined the Quit Kashmir movement in 1946, which was led by [[Sheikh Abdullah]] against Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir. He is reported to have played a key role in assisting the [[Indian Army]] during the [[Indo-Pakistani War of 1947]]. He helped the Indian officers interact with the population and collect porters, mules and other kinds of administrative help which facilitated the soldiers' job.<ref name="Slender">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lYHXmx4cOUsC|title=Slender Was the Thread: Kashmir Confrontation 1947-48|last=Sen|first=Maj Gen L. P.|publisher=Orient Longman|year=1969|isbn=0-86131-692-4|location=New Delhi|page=196|accessdate=4 August 2010}}</ref>

Dhar was subsequently appointed the Home Secretary and then the Deputy Home Minister of Jammu and Kashmir in 1948, when Sheikh Abdullah was the Prime Minister. He was a Member of the [[Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir|Jammu and Kashmir State Constituent Assembly]] from 1951 to 1957 which endorsed Kashmir's accession to India. He was also a Member of the [[Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly|State Assembly]] from 1957 to 1967, and was appointed Cabinet Minister, in-charge of various portfolios. He was later elected to the [[Rajya Sabha]] from Jammu and Kashmir in 1972. He was appointed as the [[Planning Commission (India)|Union Minister for Planning]] in July, 1972.<ref name="LA" />

Dhar was a close associate of [[Indira Gandhi]] and was instrumental in finalising the 1972 Indo-Bangladesh treaty of peace, friendship and co-operation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Greater common good |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110914/jsp/opinion/story_14501242.jsp |publisher=telegraphindia.com |first=K.C. |last=Nayar |date=14 September 2011 |accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1975/06/13/archives/durga-prasad-dhar-57-dead-cemented-indian-ties-to-soviet.html "Durga Prasad Dhar, 57 Dead; Cemented Indian Ties to Soviet"]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. June 13, 1975.</ref> He became one of the closest confidants of the [[Nehru-Gandhi]] family and also played a significant role in the 1972 [[Simla Agreement|Simla agreement]] between India and Pakistan.<ref>{{cite web |title=Durga Prasad Dhar |url=http://www.kashmirlife.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2419:durga-prasad-dhar&catid=20:personality&Itemid=167 |publisher=kashimrlife.net |first=Vol 02 |last=Issue 02 |date=19 March 2012 |accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref>

===Diplomacy===
Dhar was a member of the Indian delegation to the United Nations security council meeting in 1949 and the Indian delegation to United Nations General Assembly in the Paris Session of 1952.<ref name="LA"/> He was the ambassador of India to the Soviet Union between 1969-1971 and then again from 1975 till his death.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ambassadors of India to USSR and Russia |url=http://www.indianembassy.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=539&lang=en |publisher=indianembassy.ru |accessdate=31 July 2012}}</ref>

He negotiated the 1971 [[Indo-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation]] and was a principal architect of India's military intervention in neighbouring East Pakistan's civil war, which led to the creation of independent Bangladesh.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20081206124415/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,913198,00.html untitled]. ''Time''. June 23, 1975.</ref><ref>[[T. P. Sreenivasan|Srreenivasan, T. P.]] (31 December 2016). [http://www.deccanherald.com/content/589131/how-india-pak-came-close.html "How India, Pak came close to settle border"]. ''[[Deccan Herald]]'', 2016</ref>

The D.P. Dhar Hall at [[Embassy of India in Moscow]] is named in his honour.

===Death===
D.P. Dhar died of a heart attack on 12 June 1975.

==Awards==
In 2012, Bangladesh president [[Zillur Rahman]] conferred the ''Liberation War Friendship Honour'' (posthumous) to Durga Prasad Dhar in recognition of his pioneering role in concluding the 1971 Indo-Soviet Friendship Treaty, mobilising international support in favour of Bangladesh and playing a special role in support of the Liberation War.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3251255.ece |title=D.P. Dhar honoured in Bangladesh |first=The Hindu |last=Online |date=27 Mar 2012|newspaper=The Hindu }}</ref> Vijay Dhar, son of D.P. Dhar received the honour on his behalf in Dhaka.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www1.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=0&id=237503$date=2012-03-27&dateCurrent=2012-04-05 |title=Bangladesh honours Indian who shaped things in 1971 |publisher=bssnews.net |first=Sangbad Sanstha |last=Bangladesh |accessdate=31 Jul 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313170903/http://www1.bssnews.net/newsDetails.php?cat=0&id=237503$date=2012-03-27&dateCurrent=2012-04-05 |archive-date=13 March 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|40em}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhar, Durga Prasad}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:1975 deaths]]
[[Category:Kashmiri people]]
[[Category:Kashmiri Pandits]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:State cabinet ministers of Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 1957–1962]]
[[Category:Jammu and Kashmir MLAs 1962–1967]]
[[Category:Members of the Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly]]
[[Category:Jammu & Kashmir National Conference politicians]]
[[Category:Tyndale Biscoe School alumni]]

Durga Prasad Dhar - Revision history

RockyHerz477 at 09:38, 31 August 2025