Dr Karan Singh, Rajya Sabha MP and Chairman of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, was catapulted into political life at the early age of eighteen when, in 1949, he was appointed Regent by his father on the intervention of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Thereafter he was head of the Indian State of Jammu & Kashmir for the next 18 years as Regent, as elected Sadar-i-Riyasat and lastly as Governor.
With a deep knowledge of Indian cultural tradition as well as his wide exposure to Western literature and civilisation, Dr Singh is recognised as an outstanding thinker and leader in India and abroad.
He is a renowned orator, and has lectured in five continents on philosophy and culture, politics and the environment. His tenure as the Indian Ambassador to the United States, though brief, received extensive and extremely favourable media coverage in both the countries.
Singh has been recently conferred with this year's "National Integration Award" of National Minorities Commission (NCM) for his "outstanding contribution towards promotion of communal harmony in India and abroad".