Former Foreign Secretary A P Venkateswaran's body cremated

BANGALORE: Former Foreign Secretary A P Venkateswaran who passed away here was cremated at the Wilson Garden Crematorium in the city today.

Venkateswaran died of cardiac arrest at a private hospital here yesterday and was cremated today, his close friend Arvind Sitaraman said. He is survived by wife Usha Venkateswaran and daughter Kalpana.

An ace diplomat, Venkateswaran, who had settled down in Bangalore, was also the Chairman of city-based Asia Centre that seeks to promote political, economic, technological cultural and social exchanges among Asian nations.

After being snubbed openly at a press conference in Delhi post the Bangalore SAARC summit by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi for reportedly issuing contradictory statements on his visit to Pakistan, Venkateswaran had resigned as Foreign Secretary in January 1987.

"You will be talking to a new Foreign Secretary soon..," Gandhi had told a Pakistani journalist, who had noted the contradictory statements at the press meet at which Venkateswaran was also present. Following this, a hurt Venkateswaran with an illustrious diplomatic career spanning more than 35 years, resigned.