Jagat Singh Mehta, former foreign secretary passed away today after prolonged illness. Mehta was 92 and is survived by three sons and a daughter.

According to family sources, he had been under medical treatment since long time.

His body has been shifted to mortuary of a private hospital to preserve it till the performance of last rites. The cremation will be held on Saturday, March 8^th since two of his sons are expected to arrive on Friday evening from US.

Mehta was born in 1922 to Mohan Singh Mehta, a renowned educationist and was educated at Allahabad University and Cambridge University. Mehta made a meteoric rise when he and his friend informed the government of British India of imminent mutiny in the Indian Navy.

Mehta was a member and advisor at various international meetings with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Morarji Desai in almost 50 countries in Asia, Latin America, Europe and Africa. He acted as the Foreign Secretary from 1976-79.

Mehta served in Indian Diplomatic Missions in Switzerland, London and Bonn.

He also acted as the High Commissioner in Tanzania from 1970 to 1974. His publications include Militarization in the Third World (1985), The March of Folly in Afghanistan (2002), and Negotiating for India (2006).

He received Padma Bhushan Award in 2002. Mehta was actively involved in the field of social work until late. He was the President of Vidhya Bhawan Society, Seva Mandir and Jheel Sanrakshan Samiti and several NGOs in and around Udaipur.

This news is contributed by Geetha Sunil Pillai