Former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh passes away at 93
India's former external affairs minister K Natwar Singh passed away late Saturday in Gurugram at the age of 93 after a prolonged illness.
Singh, Congress veteran, was born in Bharatpur, Rajasthan in 1931. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1984.
Singh, who was the foreign minister in UPA-I and also served as India's Ambassador to Pakistan besides holding other senior diplomatic positions. Singh worked in former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's office from 1966 to 1971 as a civil services officer before joining the Congress in the 80s and becoming a minister in the Rajiv Gandhi Cabinet.
The former Congress MP served as India's External Affairs Minister from 2004 to 2005 under the UPA-I government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. However, the Nehru-Gandhi loyalist quit Congress in 2008 after he had to resign from the UPA-I Government in 2005.
Natwar Singh and Congress parted ways bitterly over the Volcker report, which implicated him and his son as beneficiaries in Saddam Hussein's 'oil-for-food' scandal.
Singh also authored several books including, 'The Legacy of Nehru: A Memorial Tribute' and 'My China Diary 1956-88'. His autobiography is titled 'One Life is Not Enough '.
Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala confirmed Singh's demise, saying, «The news of the demise of former Foreign Minister Natwar Singh ji is sad.»
«May God give strength to his family to bear this loss and grant peace to the departed soul,» Surjewala said in a post on X.
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