https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Maharaja_Krishna_RasgotraMaharaja Krishna Rasgotra - Revision history2026-07-31T12:16:32ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Maharaja_Krishna_Rasgotra&diff=256083&oldid=prev->Lann the Clever at 15:39, 24 December 20212021-12-24T15:39:08Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Indian diplomat and academic}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}<br />
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{{Infobox officeholder<br />
| name = Maharaja Krishna Rasgotra<br />
| image = Rasgotra.jpg<br />
| office = 12th [[Foreign Secretary of India]]<br />
| term_start = 1 May 1982<br />
| term_end = 31 January 1985<br />
| predecessor = R. D. Sathe<br />
| successor = [[Romesh Bhandari]]<br />
| awards = [[Padma Bhushan]]<br />
| education = [[Panjab University|Punjab University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])<br />
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|11 September 1924}}<br />
}}<br />
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'''Maharaja Krishna Rasgotra''' (born 11 September 1924), often shortened to '''M. K. Rasgotra''', is an Indian diplomat and academic who served as the 12th [[Foreign Secretary of India]] from 1 May 1982 to 31 January 1985.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web|url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2015 |access-date=July 21, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6U68ulwpb?url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=November 15, 2014 }}</ref><br />
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==Early life==<br />
He was born 11 September 1924 in a Dogra-Brahmin family from Shakargarh, Jammu and Kashmir. He was the second son out of three sons and two daughters. He received a [[Master of Arts]] degree in English from [[Panjab University|Punjab University]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rasgotra|first=Maharajakrishna|title=A life in Diplomacy|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|year=2019|isbn=9780143447276|location=India|pages=24-44|language=English}}</ref><br />
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==Career==<br />
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=== Early career ===<br />
Rasgotra was tutor at [[Government College, Lahore]] from 1944 to 1946, head of the English department at SA College for Women, [[Sialkot]] in 1946, and head of the English department at Arya College, [[Ludhiana]] in 1947. He was appointed to the Punjab Educational Service in March 1948 and also worked as a lecturer in English at the [[Satish Chander Dhawan Government College]] in 1948 and 1949.<br />
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He was appointed to the [[Indian Foreign Service]] on 27 September 1949. Later in his career, he was [[List of High Commissioners of India to the United Kingdom|High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom]] and Ambassador to Morocco, Tunisia, the Netherlands, Nepal, France, and [[UNESCO]].<ref>[http://www.outlookindia.com/author.asp?name=M.K.%20Rasgotra Information from www.outlookindia.com]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><br />
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===Bhopal disaster===<br />
{{Main|Bhopal disaster}}<br />
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, New Delhi|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 (American businessman)|Warren Anderson]] went through the Foreign Secretary.<ref>[http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/bhopal-gas-tragedy-centre-arranged-warren-andersons-release-says-ex-us-diplomat-tells-ndtv-32186.php Interview with NDTV]</ref> 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.<ref><br />
{{Citation<br />
|title=Interview with M. K. Rasgotra <br />
|newspaper=The Hindu <br />
|date=18 June 2010 <br />
|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article472296.ece <br />
|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5qaIF24ut?url=http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article472296.ece <br />
|archive-date=18 June 2010 <br />
|url-status=dead <br />
}}</ref><br />
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==Later life==<br />
In September 2020, it was noted that Rasgotra was still active and was one of the oldest living former [[Indian Foreign Service]] (IFS) officers.<ref>[https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/open-page/no-nervous-nineties-for-veteran-diplomats/article32649718.ece No nervous nineties for veteran diplomats]</ref><br />
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== Books ==<br />
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* A Life in Diplomacy, Viking, 2016; Penguin Books, 2019.<br />
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== References ==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 2000–09}}<br />
{{Indian civil servants}}<br />
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{{Authority control}}<br />
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasgotra, Maharaja Krishna}}<br />
[[Category:1924 births]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:Indian diplomats]]<br />
[[Category:Indian Foreign Secretaries]]<br />
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in civil service]]<br />
[[Category:High Commissioners of India to the United Kingdom]]<br />
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Nepal]]<br />
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Morocco]]<br />
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to Tunisia]]<br />
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to France]]<br />
[[Category:Ambassadors of India to the Netherlands]]<br />
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