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Hindustan Times
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Who was Madhuri Gupta, ex-diplomat turned Pakistani spy?
While 'travel YouTuber' Jyoti Malhotra's involvement with Pakistani intelligence operatives has shocked the country, a similar case made waves in 2010 when former diplomat Madhuri Gupta turned spy for Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI. In 2010, junior Indian diplomat Madhuri Gupta, who had served at the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, was arrested in New Delhi on charges of spying for Pakistan's ISI. Also Read: Jyoti Malhotra asked official to get her married in Pakistan: Report Later, in 2018, she was sentenced to three years in jail for passing on sensitive information to Pakistan's spy agency. 1. Madhuri Gupta, had worked as an assistant director of the Indian Council of World Affairs from 2006-2007 and later as the press and information secretary of India's High Commission in Islamabad. She had been suspected of passing on sensitive information to Pakistani officials since 2008. 2. At 66 years old, in 2018, Gupta was held guilty under various provisions of the Official Secrets Act for maintaining unauthorised contact with Pakistani intelligence operatives Mubshar Raza Rana and Jamshed. Also Read: Jyoti Malhotra confesses to being in touch with Pak official before Pahalgam attack: Cops 3. She was accused of passing on key information personally as well as through her email account to ISI handlers from October 2009 to April 2010. In one email, she had promised to collect information on a hydroelectric project in Jammu and Kashmir, which would have had grave consequences for national security. 4. Gupta was allegedly keen to cross over to Pakistan and was skilled in Urdu, reported IANS citing sources. Investigating officer Pankaj Sood told the Caravan in 2012, that she had been 'trapped' by a young Pakistani operative and had expressed desire to marry him. 5. A Delhi court had observed during her sentencing, as quoted by PTI, 'It is seen that the accused was unable to give such information but her intention of passing on such information and her going to Jammu after giving the false excuse of attending marriage points out her intention of helping the enemy country." 6. Gupta died in 2021 in Bhiwandi, Rajasthan. She had denied all claims against her throughout her trial and claimed that she was being falsely implicated by senior officials. (with inputs from PTI)
Hindustan Times
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Delhi's Sapru House, which shaped India's foreign policy, turns 70
Tucked away in a corner of the busy Barakhamba Road lies a quiet building that belies its rich historical tapestry, having helped shape India's foreign policy for the past seven decades. Standing as a testimony to a changing nation, this 'Mother Institute' celebrated its 70th anniversary this May — it is the Sapru House. Built in the art deco style with Makrana marble pillars, the Sapru House is more than just the headquarters of the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA). Diplomats, scholars and historians refer to it as a living repository of ideas, diplomacy and culture, which has stood resilient through India's modern evolution. For Delhi, it's an equally important landmark building that has seen the Capital grow alongside it, as its red sandstone facade and Lutyens-inspired symmetry became symbolic of India's blend of various architecture. The building features a stupa-like dome, entrance gateway arches and colonnaded exteriors. As the ICWA marks 70 years at Sapru House, there is quiet pride among diplomats who work here. 'We have grown with India,' said Nutan Kapoor Mahawar (IFS), an additional secretary with the ministry of external affairs, under whom the facility comes. 'Our past is rich, but our eyes are on the future, as this institute believes in collaborating with institutes from across the India and we nurture some of the smartest and brightest foreign policy scholars,' she said, adding that ICWA presently holds over 100 memorandums of understanding (MoU) with think-thanks and institutions across the world for knowledge sharing. Inception of ICWA Founded in 1943, four years before India's independence, the ICWA was the country's first independent think-tank on international affairs, established mainly by the efforts of Tej Bahadur Sapru—the liberal nationalist and opposition member in the Council of States, who lent his name to the place—and Pandit Hriday Nath Kunzru. Sapru House, named after Sapru, who envisioned a sovereign platform for Indian foreign policy, became ICWA's permanent home in May 1955, when the building was inaugurated by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Former diplomat TCA Raghavan and Vivek Mishra, in their book 'Sapru House: A Story of Institution-Building in World Affairs', wrote that a fund collection drive to raise ₹10 lakh was launched to erect the iconic structure in 1949. The donors included Maharaja Yashwant Rao Holkar of Indore, who donated ₹1.5 lakh, then president Rajendra Prasad and PM Jawaharlal Nehru who donated ₹1,000 and ₹500 respectively—their salaries for a month. According to officials, at a time when foreign policy debates were largely shaped by colonial interests, the ICWA offered a distinctly Indian perspective. Its founding members included Nehru and then foreign minister VK Krishna Menon, who believed the council could help India find its voice on the global stage. 'We needed an Indian institution that would speak with both authority and independence,' Mahawar. A cultural and diplomatic landmark Sapru House has also incubated many influential international think tanks and institutions, said Hitesh J Rajpal, joint secretary. 'Indian School of International Studies was founded here, which was later moved to Jawaharlal Nehru University, the genesis of Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) was here... so, in nutshell, this building has nurtured a lot of important institutions,' he said. 'Subsequently, this institute held the first Asian Relation Conference in 1947, which laid the groundwork for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) later,' he said, emphasising its historical importance. According to official records, then president of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh was felicitated at Sapru House in February 1958 and its key visitors included Rajendra Prasad, Abdul Kalam Azad and Jawaharlal Nehru, among others. In subsequent years, notable figures, such as the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese president Xi Jinping are among the facility's visitors, delivering key lectures or taking part in important discussions about India and the world. But Sapru House was never limited to just diplomacy. It has played host to an array of cultural events, ranging from Amrita Pritam's poetic tribute during the felicitation of Ho Chi Minh to renowned ghazal singer Begum Akhtar's performance in December 1964. Turning into a venue for cultural dialogue, music recitals, literary festivals, panel discussions and art exhibitions, especially during the 1960s and 1970s, it counts poets Ramdhari Singh 'Dinkar', Harivansh Rai Bachchan and Shiv Batalvi among the performers it has hosted. The ICWA clarified that these performances were not organised by them, but by organisers or poets who sought to rent their premises. Renowned Kathak dancer Shovana Narayan, in Raghavan and Mishra's book, said: 'In the sixties and seventies, the ruling theatre were Sapru House, Ashoka Theatre and AIFACS, if any artiste was presented by either of the two namely, Ashoka and Sapru, or if by both, then one would say that the artist has arrived.' In their book, Raghavan and Mishra, noted that after the highs of the 1960s and 70s came the fall of the 1980s and 90s. 'The quality of functions declined during the 1980s and 1990s, research declined both in quantitative and qualitative terms and standards,' they wrote in their book. Cultural activities, however, were suspended after the ICWA Act, 2001, set the tone for its purpose — to study and promote Indian and international affairs, with the venue classified as an 'institute of national importance', according to Rajpal. The library Among the most powerful assets of the House is the ICWA Library. Less in the public eye, it is a vast repository of over 100,000 books, journals and diplomatic records dating to pre-independence, officials said. 'We have a collection of few rare books, some dating back to the 18th century, including 'The History of Japan' by Engelbertus Kampfer (1727) and 'The Himala Mountains: Rivers Jumna and Ganges' by James Baillie Fraser (1820),' said Narendra Kumar, the librarian at ICWA. He said that researchers and students described the library as a hidden sanctuary, a place where rare historical books offered exceptional insight and inspiration. 'With its collections on non-alignment, South-South Cooperation, and India's early foreign policy debates, it continues to serve as a vital resource for those seeking to understand the roots of India's global outlook,' he said. The library membership is open to a wide range of individuals, including diplomats, parliamentarians, civil servants, journalists, historians, academicians and postgraduate students in various fields. In recent years, as India's foreign policy has become more dynamic, the ICWA has also modernised, with digital archives, policy briefs and collaborative research across continents, the librarian said.
Khaleej Times
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan to visit India, deliver lecture in New Delhi on March 10
Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister Ararat Mirzoyan will visit India from March 9 to 11, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement on Friday. Mirzoyan will arrive in New Delhi on March 9 at New Delhi Airport. The Armenian Foreign Minister is scheduled to deliver a lecture at the Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) at Sapru House, New Delhi, on March 10. Later in the day, he will hold a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at Hyderabad House. According to MEA, FM Ararat Mirzoyan visited India from April 24-27, 2022 to participate in the Raisina Dialogue. He met EAM Jaishankar and also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Armenian FM was accompanied by a big business delegation and had detailed meetings with the representatives of CII in Delhi and Mumbai. Jaishankar also met with Mirzoyan in September 2021 in Dushanbe on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. Shortly thereafter, EAM visited Armenia from October 12-13, 2021. This was EAM's first-ever visit to independent Armenia. India and Armenia share friendly relations rooted in historical ties between the people of the two countries. In 2022, the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Armenia was celebrated.
