Avtar Singh Bhasin

Avtar Singh Bhasin retired from the Ministry of External Affairs in 1993 as director historical division after three decades of service. Since retirement, he has taken to academic research. He was senior fellow of the Indian Council of Historical Research and then honorary fellow at the Institute of Contemporary Studies, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. His area of research has been India’s relations with neighbouring countries. He has over the years compiled official documents on India’s relations with Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal in five volumes each, and on India-Pakistan Relation in 10 volumes. His last publication in the same genre was India-China Relations 1947-2000 also in 5 volumes.

Between 2002 and 2013 he published an annual series titled India’s Foreign Relations for the Ministry of External Affairs.

His other books include Some Called It partition, Some Freedom; India in Sri Lanka: Between Lion and the Tigers, India-Pakistan: Neighbours at Odds. His last book Nehru, Tibet and China garnered great acclaim.