Ratan Kumar Nehru

R. K. Nehru
Foreign Secretary
In office
1952–1955
Preceded byK. P. S. Menon
Succeeded bySubimal Dutt
Ambassador of India to China
In office
1955–1958
Preceded byNedyam Raghavan
Succeeded byG. Parthasarathy
Ambassador of India to United Arab Republic
In office
1958–1960
Secretary-General of the Ministry of External Affairs
In office
1960–1963
Preceded byN. R. Pillai
Succeeded byPosition abolished
R. K. Nehru (right) with Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser (center) and Rajpramukh Man Singh II of Rajasthan (left)

Ratan Kumar Nehru, or R.K. Nehru, (10 October 1902 – 2 April 1981) was an Indian civil servant and diplomat. He served as the Foreign Secretary, 1952–1955, and later as India's ambassador to China and United Arab Republic (Egypt). During 1960–1963, he was appointed the Secretary-General of the Ministry of External Affairs, a period in which India faced an invasion from China. He retired in 1963, after which the position of Secretary-General was abolished, and the Foreign Secretary role became the head of the Ministry.[1][2][3]

He was son of Mohanlal Nehru, grandson of Nandlal Nehru.[4]

  1. ^ Benner, The Indian Foreign Policy Bureaucracy (2019), Sec 4.2.1: "The last secretary-general was R.K. Nehru, cousin to Nehru... after them, Nehru's death brought the secretary-general tradition to a close.".
  2. ^ Noorani, A. G. (13 July 2012). "A Nehru's Dissent". Frontline.
  3. ^ Sharma, Jagdish Saran (1981). Encyclopaedia Indica. S. Chand.
  4. ^ Tharoor, Shashi (2003). Nehru: The Invention of India. Arcade Publishing. ISBN 978-1-55970-697-1.