Krishnan Srinivasan is an India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

, scholar and the former Foreign Secretary of the Republic of India. As Foreign Secretary, he was the functional Head of the Indian Foreign Ministry and the highest ranking diplomat in the country. He was also the Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

 in London for 7 years after he retired as Indian Foreign Secretary

Indian Foreign Secretary

An Indian Foreign Secretary is the top diplomat for Indian Foreign Relations, who is appointed in the Ministry of External Affairs Office. Foreign Secretaries are experienced IFS officers, who are ambassadors to foreign nations....

.

Diplomatic service

He was born 1937 in Madras, India, was educated at Bedford School

Bedford School

Bedford School is not to be confused with Bedford Modern School or Bedford High School or Old Bedford School in Bedford, TexasBedford School is an HMC independent school for boys located in the town of Bedford, England, United Kingdom...

 and Oxford University. He joined the Indian Foreign Service

Indian Foreign Service

The Indian Foreign Service is the foreign service of India. It is the body of career diplomats of India.The Indian Foreign Service is part of the Central Civil Services of the Government of India...

 in 1959 and rose to become the Ambassador

Ambassador

An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

/High Commissioner

High Commissioner

High Commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.The English term is also used to render various equivalent titles in other languages.-Bilateral diplomacy:...

 to Zambia

Zambia

Zambia , officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west....

 and Botswana

Botswana

Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...

, Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, Benin

Benin

Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...

 and Cameroun, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 and Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

. He concluded his career with the Government of India in 1995 after being appointed Secretary and finally Foreign Secretary. He was then appointed Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General

Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General

Two Commonwealth Deputy Secretaries-General assist the Secretary-General in running the Commonwealth Secretariat, which is the central institution of the Commonwealth of Nations...

 (political) in London where he served until 2002.

Distinctions

He is a Member of Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church, Oxford

Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...

’s Senior Common Room and High Table from 1998, Fellow of Wolfson College Cambridge (2002–05), Fellow of the Centre for International Studies Cambridge (2002–05), Fellow of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies

Institute of Commonwealth Studies

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies, abbreviated to ICS, was founded by the University of London in 1949 to promote academic study of the Commonwealth of Nations and its constituent countries. It became part of the School of Advanced Study in 1994...

 London (2002–08), Fellow of the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies (2003–04), Fellow of the Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Kolkata from 2006, and Fellow of the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study at Uppsala

Uppsala

- Economy :Today Uppsala is well established in medical research and recognized for its leading position in biotechnology.*Abbott Medical Optics *GE Healthcare*Pfizer *Phadia, an offshoot of Pharmacia*Fresenius*Q-Med...

 in (2008). He was elected Honorary Professor at ASCI Hyderabad in 2005. He was awarded a Hind Ratna (India) in 2002, and was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Valeur (Cameroon) in 2007.

Non fiction

• Tricks of the Trade (2000).
• The Rise, Decline and Future of the British Commonwealth. Hardback (2005). Paperback (2008).
• The Jamdani Revolution; Politics, Personalities and Civil Society in Bangladesh (2007).
• Towards the New Horizon: World Order in the 21st Century (2009)

Fiction

• The Eccentric Effect (2001).
• The Ugly Ambassador (2003).
• Guesswork (2005).

He is a regular columnist on international affairs for The Telegraph newspaper, Calcutta and The Statesman newspaper, Calcutta.