Veteran Congress leader and former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh took his last breath on August 10 Saturday. He was 93. A glimpse of his life.
Veteran Congress leader and former External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh passed away on Saturday night after being hospitalized in Gurgaon for two weeks. The 93-year-old breathed his last at Medanta Hospital.
A Glimpse Of His Life
A congress loyal, Natwar Singh was a diplomat before joining politics. He served as a External Affairs Minister between 2004-05 in former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s led government. In the cabinet of Rajiv Gandhi, he served as the Union Minister of State for Steel, Mines and Coal and Agriculture from 1985-86, Minister of State in the Ministry of External Affairs during 1986-89. Singh was elected as MP from Bharatpur (Rajasthan) in 1984 after making the switch from the Indian Foreign Services.
Before Stepping Into Politics
After stepping into the Indian Foreign Service at the age of just 22 in 1953, Singh embarked on an illustrious diplomatic career. He spent time as the Deputy High Commissioner for India in the UK from 1973 to 1977, before getting promoted to the role of High Commissioner for India in Zambia the same year. Adding to his list of impressive roles, he also held the esteemed position of the Indian Ambassador to Pakistan from 1980 to 1982.
Natwar Singh’s Education Qualification
Singh, an avid student of history, undertook his studies at St. Stephen’s College in Delhi before furthering his educational journey in renowned universities of Cambridge, UK and Peking, China.
Highest Civilian Award Of India
After his instrumental work spearheading the preparation committee for the 1983 Non-Alignment Summit in New Delhi, K Natwar Singh was awarded with the prestigious Padma Vibhushan, the highest civilian accolade in India.
Not Good Relationship With PM
Singh made a conscious choice to step back from his political life due to his tense interactions with ex-Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, who assumed office in 1991. Nevertheless, Singh remained influential in the political arena by profoundly contributing to the foundation of the All India Indira Congress.
Re-Entry Into Politics
In 2002, Singh secured a position in Rajya Sabha, later progressing to serve as the External Affairs Minister within Dr. Manmohan Singh’s Cabinet. However, his tenure was cut short in 2006 due to allegations concerning the oil-for-food scandal. The findings accused close acquaintances, including his own son, of profiting from corrupt payments. Singh, however, insisted that he hadn’t personally benefited from the scandal. The UN’s Volcker committee pinpointed both Singh and the Congress Party as beneficiaries of under-the-table payments in the oil scam. Singh finally cut ties with the Congress Party in February 2008, ending a relationship spanning nearly a quarter of a century.
Spoke Against Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh
Singh, in his autobiography “One Life Is Not Enough”, stirred controversy by divulging private conversations with Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, who he had publicly criticized multiple times. Confronted by the Indian Express in 2014, Singh ardently defended his right to do so, contending that being a prominent public personality, Sonia doesn’t get to keep a private life.