Inder Kumar Gujral

Inder Kumar Gujral (4 December 1919 – 30 November 2012) was an Indian diplomat, politician, and anti-colonial independence activist, who served as the prime minister of India from April 1997 to March 1998.Later, Gujral was appointed Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union[5] by Indira Gandhi and stayed on during the tenures of Morarji Desai and Charan Singh.[5] He also brought about controversy during the Gulf War when he hugged Saddam Hussein as a show-of-good-faith to ensure Indian expatriates would be safe.[5] Subsequent to the 1996 election, when the United Front government was formed under the premiership of H. D. Deve Gowda, Gujral was again named Minister of External Affairs.To avoid mid-term elections, a compromise was reached: the INC agreed to support another United Front government under a new leader, provided its concerns—such as not being consulted before taking important decisions and being marginalised—were addressed.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Uttar Pradesh government, headed by Kalyan Singh, sought a vote of confidence after violence and unruly scenes took place in the assembly.[34] On the same day there were angry scenes in parliament, as the INC then called for the DMK's removal from the cabinet and refused to partake in any parliamentary debate until that happened.Gujral resigned following the withdrawal, and sent a letter to President K. R. Narayanan that read: "My government has lost its majority and does not want to continue in office on moral grounds", but did not call for the dissolution of parliament.Gujral was the third PM to be from the Rajya Sabha, following Indira Gandhi (January 1966 - March 1967)[39] and H. D. Deve Gowda (June 1996 - April 1997).[5] The doctrine was later termed as such by journalist Bhabani Sen Gupta in his article, India in the Twenty First Century in International Affairs.These principles are, as he set out at Chatham House in September 1996 (which he later reiterated at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies):[42] The United Front Government's neighbourhood policy now stands on five basic principles: First, with the neighbours like Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka, India does not ask for reciprocity but gives all that it can in good faith and trust."[43] The major setback of the Gujral doctrine is said to be the debilitating impact it had on the R&AW's (Research and Analysis Wing) ability to conduct operations in Pakistan.On his orders Pakistan's special operations desk of R&AW was shut down leading to major gaps in India's intelligence capabilities.[48][49] As a result, for the first time in human history, a World Constituent Assembly convened to draft and adopt the Constitution for the Federation of Earth.[50] Gujral was admitted at Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon, Haryana (part of the National Capital Region), on 19 November 2012, after being diagnosed with a lung infection."[58] The Union Cabinet issued a statement that read: "In his death, India has lost a great patriot, a visionary leader and a freedom fighter."It is these qualities and the genuine warmth of his personality that made him such a widely admired and respected Prime Minister of India, MP and ambassador."[46] Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa sent a message to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in which he wrote: "Shri Gujral was ahead of his times in a rapidly globalising world.Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf mentioned Gujral's "admirable role" in boosting India-Pakistan relations, while he also said South Asia had lost a noble and distinguished politician.Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sent an unnamed senior leader of her Awami League party for the funeral.