Editing Natwar Singh (section)

{{Short description|Indian politician (1931–2024)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = K. Natwar Singh
| image               = K. Natwar Singh 2005.jpg
| caption             = Singh in 2005
| imagesize           = 200px
| office1             = [[Indian External Affairs Minister|Minister of External Affairs]]
| term_start1         = 22 May 2004
| term_end1           = 6 December 2005
| primeminister1      = [[Manmohan Singh]]
| predecessor1        = [[Yashwant Sinha]]
| successor1          = [[Manmohan Singh]]
| office2             = [[Minister without portfolio]]
| term_start2         = 8 December 2005
| term_end2           = 22 May 2009
| primeminister2      = [[Manmohan Singh]]
| predecessor2        = [[Mamata Banerjee]]
| successor2          = [[Arun Jaitley]]
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|df=yes|1931|05|16}}
| birth_place         = [[Bharatpur district|Jaghina]], [[Bharatpur State]], [[British Raj|British India]] (present-day [[Rajasthan]], India)
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2024|08|10|1931|05|16}}
| death_place         = [[Gurgaon|Gurugram]], [[Haryana]], India
| nationality         = Indian
| party               = [[Indian National Congress]] (1984–2006)<br>[[Bahujan Samaj Party]] (2008)<ref name="p315"/>
| relations           = 
| children            = 2, including [[Jagat Singh (politician)|Jagat Singh]]
| residence           = New Delhi
| occupation          = Politician
| spouse              = Heminder Kaur
| signature           = 
| alma_mater          = [[St. Stephen's College, Delhi]]<br> [[Corpus Christi College, Cambridge]]
| awards              = [[Padma Bhushan]]
| education           = [[Mayo College]]
}}

'''Natwar Singh''' (16 May 1931 – 10 August 2024) was an Indian politician and a [[diplomat]] of the [[Indian Foreign Service]] who  served as the [[Minister of External Affairs (India)|Minister of External Affairs of India]] from May 2004 to December 2005. Having been suspended by the [[Indian National Congress]] (INC) in 2006,<ref name="d796">{{cite web | title=Natwar Singh quits Congress party | website=Hindustan Times | date=13 February 2008 | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/natwar-singh-quits-congress-party/story-UdhHsFOi3rOp2thnbwEe0H.html | access-date=11 August 2024 | archive-date=2 March 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302214142/https://www.hindustantimes.com/india/natwar-singh-quits-congress-party/story-UdhHsFOi3rOp2thnbwEe0H.html | url-status=live }}</ref> he joined the [[Bahujan Samaj Party]] (BSP) in 2008 but was removed from the party within four months.<ref name="n993">{{cite web | title=BSP expels former external affairs minister Natwar Singh | website=The Times of India | date=18 November 2008 | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/bsp-expels-former-external-affairs-minister-natwar-singh/articleshow/3728259.cms | access-date=11 August 2024 | archive-date=11 August 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811035053/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/bsp-expels-former-external-affairs-minister-natwar-singh/articleshow/3728259.cms | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="p315">{{cite web | last=India | first=Press Trust of | title=Natwar Singh joins BSP | website=India Today | date=10 August 2008 | url=https://www.indiatoday.in/latest-headlines/story/natwar-singh-joins-bsp-28187-2008-08-09 | access-date=11 August 2024 | archive-date=11 August 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240811032815/https://www.indiatoday.in/latest-headlines/story/natwar-singh-joins-bsp-28187-2008-08-09 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Singh was selected into the [[Indian Foreign Service]] in 1953. In 1984, he resigned from the service to contest elections as a member of the INC party. He won the election and served as a [[Union Council of Ministers|union minister of state]] until 1989. Thereafter, he had a patchy political career until being made India's foreign minister in 2004. However, 18 months later, he had to resign after the [[United Nations]]' (UN) [[Paul Volcker Committee|Volcker committee]] named both he and the INC to which he belonged as beneficiaries of illegal pay-offs in the scandal related to the UN's [[Oil-for-Food Programme]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/29/stories/2005102923960100.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051031034552/http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/29/stories/2005102923960100.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 October 2005 |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |date=29 October 2005 |title=Volcker Report names Natwar Singh and Congress Party as "beneficiaries" }}</ref>

In 2014, he wrote his autobiography ''One Life is Not Enough''. This book was criticised for its attempt to create sensation, while the Congress criticised Natwar Singh for distortion of facts due to his removal from the political position.<ref name="d772"/><ref name="f224"/>