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A. P. Venkateswaran
Born 2 June 1930
Brahmapur, Odisha, British India
Died 2 September 2014(2014-09-02) (aged 84)
Bangalore, India
Resting place Wilson Garden Cremtorium, Bangalore
Occupation Diplomat
Spouse(s) Usha
Children Kalpana
Parent(s) A. S. Panchapakesa Ayyar
Vedanayaki Ammal
Awards Fellowship – Harvard University

Ayilam Panchapakesha Venkateswaran (born 1930, died 2014) was an important Indian diplomat. He worked as India's top diplomat, called the Foreign Secretary. Many people thought he was very good at his job. He was also the head of the Asia Centre in Bangalore. His resignation from his job caused a lot of discussion at the time.

Early Life and Education

A. P. Venkateswaran came from a family in Kerala, a state in southern India. His father, A. S. Panchapakesa Ayyar, was a judge and later a government official. Venkateswaran was born in Brahmapur, Odisha, where his father was working.

Venkateswaran was very smart and studied hard. He earned three university degrees in Science, Economics, and Political Science. He joined the Indian Foreign Service (India's diplomatic service) in 1952, when he was 22 years old. After joining, he continued his studies in international law at famous universities like Oxford in London.

He was married to Usha and they had a daughter named Kalpana. Kalpana now lives in the United States. A. P. Venkateswaran passed away in 2014 in Bangalore due to a heart attack.

From 1974 to 1975, he was a special researcher at Harvard University. He also wrote many articles about world politics for different magazines.

His Diplomatic Career

Mr. Venkateswaran worked for India in many countries around the world. He served in Indian foreign offices everywhere except South America. He was India's Ambassador (a country's top representative) in important places like the United States, China, and Syria.

After working as an Ambassador, he became India's representative at the United Nations. In 1986, he returned to India. He was then chosen to be the Foreign Secretary of India. This was the highest job in the Indian Foreign Service. He held this position during the time Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister of India.

Where he worked

A. P. Venkateswaran's Career
Office Position Years
Embassy in Prague Officer 1955–1957
New York Consulate Consul 1957–1959
Embassy – Addis Ababa Secretary 1959–1962
Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi Deputy Secretary 1962–1964
Embassy – Moscow Secretary 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 Acting Ambassador 1975–1977
Embassy – Damascus Ambassador 1977–1980
United Nations Representative 1980–1982
Embassy – Beijing Ambassador 1982–1986
Government of India Foreign Secretary 1986–1987

In 1987, Venkateswaran resigned from his government job. After that, he started the Asia Centre Bangalore. This is a special group of diplomats and thinkers based in Bangalore. They work together to share ideas and research.

See also

  • Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi
  • Indian Peace Keeping Force
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