Timeline

Durga Prasad Dhar is born to Shri Srikant Dhar and Dhanawati Dhar in Safa Kadal, Srinagar.

At the University of Lucknow, Dhar wins the student union elections, beating candidates from the Congress and the Muslim League to become President of the Student Union. It's the beginning of a long and successful political career. It's also here that he first meets Jawaharlal Nehru, who is most impressed by this young Kashmiri. The two strike up a correspondence that shapes Dhar's future politics.

He also serves as the Editor-in-Chief of The Lucknow University Union Journal. He graduates with an LLB in 1940.

DP Dhar marries Vijay Lakshmi Mattoo, known affectionately later as Rani Bhabhi, in Srinagar.

In Photo: Sheikh Abdullah (seated left), Jawaharlal Nehru (seated centre), Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (seated right), DP Dhar (standing third from right)

DP Dhar (second from left) in jail during the Quit Kashmir movement in 1946.

After Maharaja Hari Singh signs the Instrument of Accession, Dhar takes charge as Home Secretary at the relatively young age of 30 in Sheikh Abdullah's Emergency Administration.

Dhar organises and leads the Jammu and Kashmir Militia, defending the Valley against Pakistani raiders.

Dhar accompanies Sheikh Abdullah as part of the first delegation to the United Nations Security Council that raises the invasion of Kashmir by Pakistani raiders with UNSC Resolution 38.

Dhar supports the radical land reforms and is one of the main proponents of this historic act.

L to R: Brig. Sam Manekshaw, General Chowdhary, DP Dhar at the Paris United Nations meeting in 1952.

DP Dhar, GM Sadiq and others resign from Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad's government and found the Democratic National Conference.

Dhar remains a member of the J&K Legislative Council till 1968.

Dhar is elected to the Rajya Sabha, representing Jammu & Kashmir.

He is appointed ambassador to the Soviet Union and Mongolia.

Dhar flies to Moscow acting as a special envoy for Mrs. Gandhi. Diplomatic observers believe that with tensions heightening, India asked Moscow for a commitment in the event of a Pakistani attack. A few days later, Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei A. Gromyko arrives in India as a gesture of solidarity.

Dhar is appointed India's chief negotiator for peace talks ahead of the Simla agreement. He leads a 17-member delegation to Murree, Pakistan and meets his counterpart Aziz Ahmed.

Prime Minister Bhutto invites Dhar to meet him in Rawalpindi. They agree to a preliminary agenda for the scheduled talks between Bhutto and Indira Gandhi. This lays the groundwork for the Simla Agreement.

Dhar leads the Indian delegation at Simla.

However, on 30 June he suffers a mild heart attack and is rushed to hospital. He misses the last two days of the negotiations and the eventual signing of the agreement.

Dhar is appointed Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission and the Minister of Planning in charge of India’s Fifth Five-Year Plan.

As a new dispute over Kashmir arises, a special meeting between India and Pakistan is arranged in New Delhi.

"Durga Prasad Dhar, India's Planning Minister and Mrs. Gandhi's foreign policy adviser, who paved the way for the Simla meeting, is expected to hold talks with Mr. Ahmed, Secretary General of the Pakistan Foreign Ministry. An earlier meeting between the two men led to the Simla talks. Official sources here said the Friday meeting is aimed at ironing out the wrinkles that have arisen in carrying out the Simla agreement." (The New York Times, 24 August 1972)

DP Dhar is one of the chief architects of India's strategy towards Bangladesh.

He is instrumental in activating Article 9 of the Indo-Soviet Treaty he negotiated that calls upon the USSR to come to India's aid in the Bay of Bengal in December 1971.

DP Dhar is one of the few in the know about India's first nuclear test. When the test is succesful, Dhar informs Mrs Gandhi with the following coded message: "The Buddha is smiling."

At only 57, Dhar suffers another heart attack and tragically passes away in New Delhi.