Yezdezard Dinshaw Gundevia (1908–1986) was an IndianICS officer,diplomat andForeign Secretary underJawaharlal Nehru andLal Bahadur Shastri.
Gundevia belonged to theZoroastrianParsi community.[1] He graduated fromWilson College, Bombay in 1929 and joined theIndian Civil Service in 1930. He was posted to theUnited Provinces where he served in various districts until 1945.[2]
Following a mission toRangoon, Gundevia was appointed Joint Secretary to theMinistry of External Affairs from 1948 to 1950. He then served as Counsellor at theIndian Embassy in Moscow. During 1953–1954, he served as the Indian Ambassador toSwitzerland with concurrent accreditation toAustria and theVatican. This was followed by stints as Deputy High Commissioner inLondon (1954–1956) and as High Commissioner inCeylon (1957–1960).[2] From 1961 to 1964, he was the Commonwealth Secretary at the Ministry of External Affairs and became the Foreign Secretary in 1964.[3] He was Nehru's last foreign secretary and also served under Lal Bahadur Shastri during his two-year tenure.[4][5] He later served as secretary toPresidentS Radhakrishnan.[6] Gundevia was closely involved with policy formulation onKashmir having served as Special Secretary handling Kashmir Affairs in the United Nations and Commonwealth Secretary handling Kashmir Affairs before becoming the Foreign Secretary. He was also part of the Indian delegation during theSwaran Singh -Zulfikar Ali Bhutto talks on Kashmir during 1962–1963.[7][8] Gundevia as the Foreign Secretary also led the Indian delegation during the first phase of peace talks with theNaga insurgents in 1965 achieving what he termed "a truce without a political settlement".[9][10]
Gundevia chronicled much of his work in several books that he authored. These includeIn the Districts of the Raj about his life as an ICS officer in the United Provinces,The Testament of Sheikh Abdullah, based on his observations on Kashmir's politics and the Sheikh,War and Peace in Nagaland andOutside the Archives which chronicles his diplomatic career.[11][12]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
