Jacqueline Kennedy took a goodwill tour of India and Pakistan in March 1962. While the media gave widespread coverage on her fashion style, she functioned as an informal diplomat and developed her interest in arts and architecture, returning to India in later years to co-produce a book on Indian artwork.
Accompanied by her sister Lee Radziwill, and as guest of John Kenneth Galbraith, the United States ambassador to India, Kennedy arrived in India on 12 March on an Air India flight. She first spent time with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and subsequently visited Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, Varanasi, Udaipur and Jaipur, before moving to Amber Fort and City Palace. On 21 March she left India to begin a five day tour in Pakistan, where she was greeted by President Mohammad Ayub Khan.
The American magazine Life estimated she wore 22 different outfits during the first nine days. Her visit to India likely influenced some of her later sari-like gowns. Some criticism was made of Kennedy being kept away from India's poverty, but the whole tour was generally aired favourably by the press. In 2019, her sister's personal photo albums of the trip went on auction at Christie's, New York.