Our city – Udaipur is completely filled with beauty in and out. And this beauty is not reflected in just its history, culture and its places, but also in its people. There are some gem of the people belonging from Udaipur who, with their hard work and success, have not just made the city but the entire nation proud.
But sadly, with time we tend to forget the accomplishment of such people of the city. The series ‘People from Udaipur you should know about’ tends to glorify the journey of these famous and triumphant people from Udaipur who have become an epitome of success in their lives.
Jagat Singh Mehta
Jagat Singh Mehta, son of Mohan Singh Mehta was born on 17th July 1922 in Udaipur, Rajasthan. He was an Indian Politician and diplomat who also served as Foreign Secretary of India for a period of 3 years from 1976 to 1979.
His school education involved five years of study at Vidya Bhawan School which is known all over the country for its value education. After that, he went to the UK to complete his O-level and A-level schooling in a Quaker School of reading. He pursued MA and BA in English Literature from Allahabad University. He had a bucket full of experience by the time he joined Indian Navy as an officer.
In the Indian Foreign service, Mr. Mehta served in Berne, London, Bonn, Peking, and Der-es-Salaam. Among all of these, his assignment in Peking as the Charge d’Affaires en pied was the most successful. One of the greatest achievements of his life was the report on India’s boundary question with China that was prepared under his leadership.
While talking about the achievements, another one would be his entourage of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in his ride through Tibet into Bhutan which also initiated the special relations of India and Bhutan.
After Mrs. Gandhi removed him from the government, he re-entered the academic world where he became the scholar first at Harvard University and then joined the LBJ School at the University of Texas, USA as a distinguished professor and fellow at Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, D.C. in the year 1981.
Jagat’s famous publications include Militarization in the Third World (1985), The March of Folly in Afghanistan (2002), and Negotiating for India (2006).
In the year 2002, Jagat Singh Mehta received the third highest civilian award, Padma Bhushan.
Mr. Mehta passed away on March 6, 2014. He lived an extremely rich, diversified and purposeful life. He has left a legacy which will be followed by the present as well as the future generations.
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