Rajasthan Governor S K Singh dies at 77

A 1954-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer,Singh went on to become the Foreign Secretary in 1989. Prior to that,he was India’s longest serving envoy to Pakistan from 1985 to 1989. He took over as the Governor of Rajasthan in September 2007. Earlier,he was Arunachal Pradesh Governor.

In the course of his career,he also served as ambassador to Austria,Afghanistan,Jordan,Lebanon and Cyprus and was the official spokesman of the Government of India.

“He was a very warm-hearted person and a highly talented officer. He had a very successful career. We had worked together in New York,and he was high commissioner in Pakistan and India’s ambassador in Afghanistan,” recalled former external affairs minister Natwar Singh,who was a batch senior to him in the IFS.

“He was a very respected and experienced officer. My memories go back to the time when I was a probationer and he used to come to attend meetings. He had immense experience in dealing with the neighbourhood. As someone with a background in history,he was fully informed of the background on any situation,” said former foreign secretary L M Singh.

As Rajasthan Governor,Singh is reported to have taken keen interest in finding a lasting solution to the water problem in the state. “He always stood by the underprivileged of the state and worked for their upliftment,” state government officials said.