B. K. Nehru

Braj Kumar Nehru entered the Indian Civil Service in 1934 after studying at Allahabad, Oxford, and the London School of Economics. His early service in Punjab led to financial administration in independent India. Appointed an executive director of the World Bank in 1949, he built experience in international development finance before returning to the Finance Ministry. ¹

He returned to Washington as commissioner general for economic affairs, seeking foreign resources for India's development plans, and became ambassador in 1961. His work included securing food grain supplies under the American PL 480 program. In February 1962, he told President John F. Kennedy that economic assistance strengthened relations, but that American military support for Pakistan and Western criticism of India's takeover of Goa damaged public perceptions in India. ^{1, 2}

The Sino-Indian War made his role particularly urgent. On November 19, 1962, he delivered to the White House one of Jawaharlal Nehru's appeals for American military help. The requests included aircraft, radar, and personnel to meet the threat from China. Three years later, during the Rann of Kutch crisis, he carried Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri's warning to Secretary of State Dean Rusk that India might use force unless Pakistan withdrew. ^{3, 4}

After leaving Washington in 1968, Nehru governed Assam and Nagaland and served as high commissioner in London. As governor of Jammu and Kashmir, he resisted pressure to replace the state's elected chief minister; he subsequently transferred to Gujarat. He later published memoirs of his administrative and diplomatic career. ¹