I. K. Gujral

Inder Kumar Gujral was the 12th Prime Minister of India, who led the nation during the period 1997-1998. He was born on 4th December 1919 in Jhelum of the undivided Punjab State of British India. He was well qualified and had done M.A., B.Com., Ph.D. and D.Litt. (Hons. Causa).

I. K. Gujral belongs to a family of freedom fighters. His parents, Avtar Narain Gujral and Pushpa Gujral, actively participated in the freedom struggle of the country in Punjab. At the age of eleven, Gujral himself jumped into the national movement. In 1942, he was jailed during the Quit India Movement.

The post-independence political career of I. K. Gujral started with a humble beginning as Vice-President of the New Delhi Municipal Committee, in the year 1958. He later entered mainstream politics by joining the Indian National Congress in the year 1964. He served as a Minister in various Ministries viz. Communications, Parliamentary Affairs, Information & Broadcasting, Works & Housing and Planning during the period 1967-1976. From 1976 to 1980 he was the Ambassador of India to U.S.S.R. in the rank of a Cabinet Minister to the Union.

In 1980s, he left Indian National Congress and joined Janata Dal and served as Union Minister for External Affairs during the years 1989-1990. He also served as Minister in the Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Water Resources in 1996.

In the year 1997, he emerged as the consensus candidate for Prime Ministership during the rule of the United Front Government. A set of five guiding principles with regard to conduct of India’s foreign relations with its immediate neighbours which later came to be known as the Gujral Doctrine, was formulated by him during his stint as External Affairs Minister under the United Front Government. These were further fine tuned during his tenure as Prime Minister of India.

Apart from serving in various official capacities, he also worked for other important assignments such as Chairman, Indian Council of South Asian Co-Operation, President of the Institute of Defence Studies & Analysis (IDSA), Chairman of the official Committee for Promotion of Urdu (Gujral Committee) and many others. He has been a writer and commentator on National and International Affairs as well as Theatre. He had a good knowledge of Urdu language and was fond of poetry. His book ‘A Foreign Policy for India’ published in 1998 showcased his aspirations about the foreign policy that he envisioned for India. He authored the book ‘Matters of Discretion: An Autobiography’ which was published in the year 2011.

I. K. Gujral left for his heavenly abode on 30 November 2012 at the age of 93 years.