Arthur S. Lall
Arthur Samuel Lall was an Indian diplomat, writer, and anti-nuclear activist who served as a consul general of India and the 4th permanent representative of India to the United Nations from September 1954 to December 1958. He also represented the country at the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament in 1962.
Best known for his role to involve the newly independent India in the International affairs, he also wrote several books on politics such as The UN and the Middle East crisis, 1967 and The Emergence of Modern India besides writing novels and poems.
Biography
Lal was born in Lahore, British India into a Christian family. After the Indian subcontinent partitioned into two sovereign states, his family moved from Lahore, Pakistan to India. His brother was appointed dewan of the Kingdom of Sikkim. Lal obtained his education from the University of the Punjab, Lahore and the University of Oxford.Prior to his diplomatic career, he was a government official in New Delhi and the first trade commissioner of India in London. An opponent of the nuclear weapons and testing, he saw India's first nuclear test in May 1974.
He was actively involved in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the United States and the Soviet Union during his diplomatic career. After retiring from the service, he moved to Manhattan where he taught international relations at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.