D.P. Dhar

In 1971 India faced a war on one border and a refugee flood on another. It needed a friend among the great powers. A quiet Kashmiri adviser helped win one in the Soviet Union.

D.P. Dhar moved between Srinagar, Delhi and Moscow. He is widely credited as a chief architect of India’s role in the creation of Bangladesh. This lesson follows his path step by step.

No freely licensed photograph of D.P. Dhar could be verified, so none is shown here.

1Who was D.P. Dhar?

Durga Prasad Dhar was born on 10 May 1918 in Srinagar. His family was Kashmiri Pandit. At that time Kashmir was a princely state under Maharaja Hari Singh.

He studied at the Tyndale Biscoe School in Srinagar. He took a bachelor’s degree at the University of the Punjab in Lahore. He then earned a law degree from the University of Lucknow.

In 1946 he joined the Quit Kashmir movement. Sheikh Abdullah led it against Maharaja Hari Singh. It was his first big step into politics.

Why does this matter? Dhar began as a local activist in a princely state. Few would have guessed he would help shape a war.

• Born 10 May 1918 in Srinagar.
• Studied at Lahore and Lucknow.
• Joined the Quit Kashmir movement in 1946.

2What did he do in Kashmir?

In 1947 Pakistan-backed raiders entered Kashmir. The Indian Army came to defend it. Dhar is reported to have helped Indian officers deal with local people and collect porters and mules.

In 1948 he became Home Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir. He was later promoted to Deputy Home Minister. Sheikh Abdullah was Prime Minister of the state at that time.

From 1951 to 1957 he sat in the state’s Constituent Assembly. That body endorsed Kashmir’s accession to India. From 1957 to 1967 he was a member of the state assembly and held several Cabinet posts.

He also took part in the world stage early. He was in the Indian delegation at the UN Security Council in 1949. In 1952 he joined the Indian team at the UN General Assembly in Paris.

Why does this matter? He learned politics and diplomacy at the same time. That mix suited the tasks Indira Gandhi gave him later.

• 1948: Home Secretary, then Deputy Home Minister of J&K.
• Member of the state Constituent Assembly, 1951-57.
• Member of the state assembly, 1957-67.
• Indian delegations to the UN, 1949 and 1952.
• Read about Kashmir’s accession.

3What was the 1971 treaty?

Dhar moved to Delhi’s circle of power in the late 1960s. He became one of the close advisers of Indira Gandhi. In 1969 he went to Moscow as Ambassador to the Soviet Union.

In 1971 the crisis in East Pakistan grew worse. Millions of refugees crossed into India. India needed a strong partner in case the war widened.

On 9 August 1971 India and the Soviet Union signed a Treaty of Peace, Friendship and Cooperation. Foreign Ministers Swaran Singh and Andrei Gromyko signed it in New Delhi. Dhar is credited with helping negotiate it.

The treaty ran for twenty years. It could be extended by five-year steps unless one side gave a year’s notice. Article 9 said both sides would consult at once if either faced an attack or a threat of one.

Dhar also chaired the Policy Planning Committee. He is widely credited as a chief architect of India’s 1971 strategy. Some call his circle around Indira Gandhi the Kashmir Brigade, though the name is informal.

Why does this matter? The treaty gave India strategic confidence in December 1971. Exams often ask the date, the signers and Article 9.

• Ambassador to the Soviet Union, 1969-71 and again from 1975.
• Treaty signed 9 August 1971 by Swaran Singh and Gromyko.
• 20-year term with five-year extensions; Article 9 on consultation.
• Headed the Policy Planning Committee, reporting to the Prime Minister.
• Read about the 1971 war and the Simla Agreement.

4What was his role after the war?

After the December 1971 war, India and Pakistan had to settle many issues. Prisoners and captured land were at the top. Dhar became India’s chief negotiator.

In April 1972 he led a delegation to Murree in Pakistan. He met Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Aziz Ahmed. The talks helped prepare the ground for the Simla summit.

Dhar argued for a package settlement. He wanted prisoners and territory linked to one lasting agreement. He also wanted Pakistan to treat the Line of Control as a real border.

At the Simla summit in mid-1972 Indira Gandhi met Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Accounts say Dhar fell ill during the talks, and P.N. Haksar took a larger role. Both men are linked to the final Simla Agreement.

In 1972 Dhar was also elected to the Rajya Sabha from Jammu and Kashmir. In July he became Union Minister for Planning. He helped finalise the 1972 treaty of peace and friendship with Bangladesh.

Why does this matter? The war was won on the field, but peace was won at the table. Dhar worked on both sides of that story.

• Led talks with Aziz Ahmed at Murree, April 1972.
• Pushed a package settlement and the Line of Control.
• Simla Agreement, 1972: Indira Gandhi and Bhutto.
• Rajya Sabha and Planning Minister, 1972.
• Read about Indira Gandhi.

5How is he remembered?

Dhar returned to Moscow as Ambassador in 1975. He died of a heart attack on 12 June 1975. He was fifty-seven.

Today the D.P. Dhar Hall at the Indian Embassy in Moscow carries his name. It is a small tribute from the service he gave. Few other diplomats receive such a mark.

In 2012 Bangladesh gave him the Liberation War Friendship Honour after his death. President Zillur Rahman conferred it. His son Vijay Dhar received it in Dhaka.

Many history books still give Dhar less space than other leaders of 1971. He worked behind the scenes, and he did not live to write his own story. Yet his name appears in nearly every serious account of the war.

Why does this matter? Exams like to ask about the people behind the scenes. Dhar is a classic example.

• Died 12 June 1975 of a heart attack.
• D.P. Dhar Hall at the Indian Embassy in Moscow.
• 2012: Bangladesh’s Liberation War Friendship Honour, received by his son Vijay Dhar.

6What are the exam traps?

• The treaty was signed on 9 August 1971, before the December war.
• He was Ambassador to the Soviet Union twice: 1969-71 and 1975.
• The treaty had automatic five-year extensions; it did not simply end after twenty years.
• The Policy Planning Committee reported to the Prime Minister.