Former diplomat, Padma Bhushan awardee Chandrashekhar Dasgupta no more

Between 1993 and 1996, Dasgupta served as the Indian ambassador to China

Chandrashekhar Dasgupta, former Indian diplomat and the recipient of Padma Bhushan, passed away on Thursday at 82. During his almost four-decade-long career, he served as the ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, Luxembourg and China.

He joined the Indian Foreign Service (IFS) in 1962. He was the high commissioner to Singapore between 1981 and 1984 and Tanzania between 1984 and 1986. Dasgupta also held the vice-chair of the preparatory committees of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), popularly known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. 

He was an active participant in climate-related events and also wrote extensively on climate change. In 2008, he was the co-chair of the 12th EU-India Round Table held in Paris. He was also a member of the Prime Minister's Council on Climate Change.

Between 1993 and 1996, he served as the Indian ambassador to China. Later, between 1996 and 2000, he was the Indian ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union. He also served as the chairperson of the China Task Force. 

In 2008, he was awarded the third-highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan, for his work in Indian civil service. 

He also wrote a book titled "War and Diplomacy in Kashmir, 1947-48", which talks about the onset of the Kashmir conflict and the Indo-Pakistan War of 1948. 

He was also a distinguished fellow at The Energy and Resources Institute (Teri).