Girja Shankar Bajpai

Girja Shankar Bajpai served both the British Indian government and independent India's foreign ministry. Born in 1891, he entered the Indian Civil Service in 1914 and rose to the Viceroy's Executive Council. As India's representative in Washington from 1941 to 1947, he worked within an imperial diplomatic system while advocating India's own military and industrial requirements. ^{1, 2, 3}

On January 1, 1942, Bajpai signed the Declaration by United Nations for India. Its signatories committed their resources to the war against the Axis and promised not to make a separate peace. In discussions with American official Adolf Berle, Bajpai sought machinery, vehicles, and technical assistance to expand India's war production. He repeatedly urged an American technical mission, emphasizing the danger posed by Japan's advance. Roosevelt approved such a mission in February 1942. ^{4, 3}

After independence, Bajpai became secretary-general of the External Affairs Ministry, serving from 1947 to 1952. He helped develop the arrangement under which India remained in the Commonwealth after becoming a republic. His son K. Shankar Bajpai later recalled his father's close involvement in the 1949 negotiations and his belief that the Commonwealth could provide India with a useful international association. ^{1, 5}

Bajpai became governor of Bombay in 1952 and held the office until his death in 1954. His son followed him into diplomacy and also became India's ambassador to the United States. ^{1, 5}