Brajesh Mishra dead

Brajesh Mishra, who played a key role in shaping India’s foreign policy during the A B Vajpayee regime from 1998 to 2004, died at a private hospital here, following illness on Friday.

India’s first national security adviser and principal secretary to Vajpayee, Mishra was 84. His father, Dwarka Prasad Mishra, was chief minister of Madhya Pradesh and considered close to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Brajesh Mishra was ambassador and India’s permanent representative in Geneva and India’s ambassador to Indonesia.

Brajesh Mishra was also India’s permanent representative to the United Nations from June 1979 to April 1981. He continued with the United Nations, on deputation, till June 1987.

Mishra joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1991 and headed its foreign affairs cell. As Vajpayee became prime minister, he drafted Mishra into the prime minister’s office where the latter wielded considerable power and was instrumental in the veteran BJP leader’s visit to Pakistan.

Mishra also gave the push to Pokhran-2 programme and engaged the United States after that in strategic dialogue. He courted some sort of controversy as he supported Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the India-US civil nuclear agreement and publicly endorsed it.

The UPA government chose him for Padma Sri in 2011.