T. N. Kaul

Triloki Nath Kaul trained in law at Allahabad and London and moved from the Indian Civil Service into diplomacy at independence. His early foreign assignments included Moscow, Washington, and Beijing. He subsequently chaired the international commission supervising the settlement in Vietnam, represented India in Iran and the Soviet Union, and served as deputy high commissioner in London. ^{4, 2, 3}

Kaul was foreign secretary from 1968 to 1972, then ambassador to the United States from 1973 to 1976. As first secretary in Washington in August 1949, he accompanied Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit in talks with Dean Acheson about Kashmir. During Indira Gandhi's November 1971 visit, he led the Indian advisers' discussion with American officials, questioning whether negotiations could succeed while Sheikh Mujibur Rahman remained imprisoned and insisting that the refugees from East Pakistan must be able to return. He presented credentials to Nixon on June 14, 1973. ^{2, 5, 6, 1}

When Gerald Ford became president in August 1974, Kaul brought a message from Gandhi seeking better relations and renewed her invitation for an American presidential visit. Their Oval Office conversation addressed a proposed bilateral commission, trade legislation, and India's objections to restrictions in American development legislation. Henry Kissinger also acknowledged Kaul's assistance in contacts involving North Vietnam; Kaul mentioned meeting relatives of missing American servicemen. ³

Kaul later represented India at UNESCO from 1980 to 1985 and returned as ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1986 to 1989. ²