Jyotindra Nath Dixit (8 January 1936 – 3 January 2005) was an Indian diplomat, who as served as
Foreign Secretary
The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...
(1991–1994), the top bureaucrat in the
Ministry of External Affairs. At the time of his death, he was the
National Security Adviser (India)
The National Security Advisor (NSA; ISO: ) is the senior official on the National Security Council of India, and the chief advisor to the Prime Minister of India on national security policy and international affairs. Ajit Doval is the current NS ...
to the Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh (; born 26 September 1932) is an Indian politician, economist and statesman who served as the 13th prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014. He is also the third longest-serving prime minister after Jawaharlal Nehru and Indi ...
and is most remembered for his role as a negotiator in disputes with Pakistan and China.
[J. N. Dixit: Hawkish diplomat and India's first full-time National Security Adviser]
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...
, 5 January 2005.
Early life and education
Born in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...
, then known as Madras, to famous
Malayali
The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. They are predomina ...
writer Munshi Paramu Pillai and Retnamayi Devi. He got his surname, ''Dixit'', from his stepfather Sitaram Dixit, a freedom fighter and journalist.
He did his schooling in Central India, Rajasthan and Delhi. thereafter he did BA Honours Degree in Philosophy