Brajesh Chandra Mishra (29 September 1928 – 28 September 2012) was an Indian politician and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

from the Indian Foreign Service who is best known for serving as the first National Security Advisor of India from 1998 to 2004. He also served as the principal secretary of then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He received the Padma Vibhushan for his contributions.

Early life and family

He was born in

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

family on 29 September 1928 to Dwarka Prasad Mishra, who was a former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh. His father was considered a staunch politician from the Congress Party and very close to

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

though they fell out later.

Diplomatic career

Brajesh Mishra joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1951. He served as ''

chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

'' in

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after the 1962 Sino-Indian War and was India's ambassador to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. He was also ambassador and India's Permanent Representative in Geneva. Mishra's last posting was as India's permanent representative to the United Nations from June 1979 to April 1981. As permanent representative, he voiced India's position on the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan at the sixth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly, but his disagreement with that position was part of the reason why he resigned from IFS and joined the United Nations in 1981; serving as 6th United Nations Commissioner for Namibia from 1 April 1982 to 1 July 1987.

Principal secretary and National Security Advisor

In April 1991, Mishra joined the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

and became head of its foreign policy cell. He resigned from the party in March 1998 on becoming the 9th Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India. After Brajesh Mishra, the post of principal secretary became such a powerful one that it eclipsed the status of cabinet ministers. As Vajpayee's troubleshooter, he was one of the most powerful principal secretaries the Prime Minister's Office had ever seen. From November 1998 to 23 May 2004, he was also the first National Security Advisor and was instrumental in creating an institutional structure for national security management. His batch as an IFS officer was the same as the

Indian Administrative Service The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the Public administration, administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. The IAS is one of the three All India Services along with the Indian Police Service (IPS) and the Indian ...

batch of K. Subrahmanyam, widely considered as the doyen of India's strategic affairs community, and made him the first convener of the National Security Advisory Board where they worked closely on many issues. He was the key motivator of foreign policy and principal spokesman on major issues. He was actively involved in framing India's geo-political policies. He was closely involved in planning the 1998 Nuclear tests and played a crucial role in shaping India's policy regarding Pakistan and China. He is stated to have played a major role in pushing and supporting the

Bhutan Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...

to undertake Operation All Clear.

Final years and death

After demitting office, Mishra had initially expressed reservations against the India–United States Civil Nuclear Agreement. Following this, the then

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Manmohan Singh Manmohan Singh (26 September 1932 – 26 December 2024) was an Indian economist, bureaucrat, academician, and statesman, who served as the prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He was the fourth longest-serving prime minister after Jaw ...

briefed specially to address his concerns about the deal. Thereafter, Mishra extended his support and publicly endorsed the deal. In 2011, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award. Mishra died on 28 September 2012 at Fortis hospital, Vasant Kunj in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

References

External links

Articles at Outlook India on Brajesh Mishra

Brajesh Mishra (1928–2012) – An Assessment by B Raman, Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India

Man who was ‘Bharat sarkar’ – Gopalkrishna Gandhi

Brajesh Mishra: India's First Intelligence Tsar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mishra, Brajesh Vajpayee administration 2012 deaths Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in civil service 1928 births Permanent representatives of India to the United Nations Permanent representatives of India to the United Nations Office at Geneva Ambassadors of India to Indonesia Indian Foreign Service officers Madhya Pradesh politicians Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Madhya Pradesh Principal secretaries to the prime minister of India National Security Advisor of India